The Dark Blue Moon
by Sage Londyn
Summary: After sacrificing herself to save her father, Teagan is being plagued by nightmares and visions of her dead mother; how will she be able to cope when it becomes impossible to tell what's real? Meanwhile; Avery has resorted to dangerous methods of dealing with the darkness inside of her. -season 3B -*can be enjoyed as a stand alone story or part of the series* -complete-
1. Once I Was Real

**Chapter 1 – Once I Was Real**

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><p>"<em>You're falling farther than I've ever seen you fall before, for me to wonder when I'll recognize you anymore.<em>

_To see no light inside your eyes at all, to bang my head against the wall, and force myself to watch you pull away._

_And even if you chose to lock the world away… If I listen close, I can almost hear you say: once I was real, once I was somebody's child, once I could feel some feeling once in a while." –Once – by: Bradley Caleb Kane_

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><p>"No... no. Please, no." Teagan whimpered out, as the nightmare played out in her mind. It was one she had often since she, Scott and Stiles 'died' in order to save their parents.<p>

In this nightmare, -she, Isaac and the parents were back in the root cellar. The ceiling was caving in on them but instead of Stiles showing up at the last moment with an aluminum bat to put under the collapsing beam, the ceiling did actually collapse on them.

She tried as hard as she could, trying to hold up the beam with the others, but it was just too heavy. She saw the fear in Isaac's eyes and heard him yell out of her name, as part of a beam fell on her, trapping her, as debris fell down, covering her.

She saw her father laying near her, but couldn't reach out to him to help, instead she watched him take his last breath. She also saw Melissa bleeding out while the sheriff tried to stop it, even though he was just as injured as she was.

She cried out for them, but it was too late, they were all dying and there was nothing she could do. She screamed out for Isaac, more tears streaming down her face, when he didn't answer her.

She glanced off to the side and gasped in surprise when she saw him laying very still and knew in her heart that he was dead too.

It became harder and harder to breathe as she screamed and cried for her loved ones. Her heart breaking into a million of pieces after watching her dad, her friends' parents and her boyfriend die right before her eyes.

Teagan snapped awake with a whimper escaping her lips. She glanced around for a minute, realizing she was in her bed in her bedroom and jerked her head to the side to look beside her, seeing that Isaac was sleeping peacefully beside her.

Her father was nice enough to let Isaac stay with them sometimes, in her bed, to help keep her calm when the nightmares hit -which they did… almost nightly.

Teagan knew allowing her boyfriend to stay the night and share her bed was not something he wanted to do, he was still trying to come to terms with her dating a werewolf, but he knew it was calming for her to have Isaac around, which she was grateful for.

She rolled over on to her side, just watching Isaac as he slowly breathed in and out, reaching out to softly caress his face, she just needed to feel that he was alive and right beside her.

Isaac, feeling her touch slowly opened his eyes to look at her. He flashed her a sleepy smile, as he croaked out, "Hey babe."

"Hi. I didn't mean to wake you." Her voice came out in a soft whisper.

"It's okay." He mumbled, as he turned his head to the side to tenderly kiss the inside of her wrist. "Another nightmare?" He questioned.

"Mm-hm." She mumbled. "Same one I usually have. We're back in the cellar, the ceiling is caving in and I watched you all die." Tears filled her eyes as she spoke. She knew it wasn't real, but it felt like it was, it had honestly felt like they were all back there and dying in front of her eyes.

Isaac laid a hand on the small of her back, pulling her closer to him, as he kissed her forehead. "It's okay… just remember, it's not real. We made it out of there. We all lived." He explained, as he locked eyes with her, hoping to get through to her.

"I know, I know. It's just so... real and scary." Teagan said back, leaning forward to softly kiss his lips, before saying, "But I'm sorry…I woke you up. You should get back to sleep."

"Where you going?" Isaac asked, as he felt her moving away from him.

"Going to grab a glass of water." Teagan answered, as she stood up from the bed.

"And text everyone just to make sure they are okay." Isaac stated. It's something she did often after a nightmare –sending out a group text to check on their friends.

"You know me too well." Teagan said with a half smile.

Isaac watched as she turned around and headed for the bedroom door, then paused in the middle of the room, staring off to the side. He sat up in the bed, looking over in the direction she was, as he asked, "What is it?"

"That door..." Teagan said, as she pointed at the closet door, which was cracked open. "I don't remember leaving a door open."

"That door has always been open." Isaac said back, then added, "You should close it one day."

"Maybe one day I will." She mumbled, turning away from the closet door, making her way toward the bedroom door again. As she reached out to grab the door knob he called out her name, causing her to pause again, as she turned her head to look at him.

"Just remember it's all a dream. It can't hurt you." He reminded her.

Teagan nodded her head at him as she turned back around and opened the bedroom door. Making her way out into the hallway, and quietly closed the door behind her, she glanced to her left where her dad's bedroom was, seeing the door was open. Which was something he'd started to do since the nightmares started so he could hear her if she called out in the middle of the night.

She closed her eyes for a moment and softly sighed, as she leaned back against her bedroom door hating that these stupid dreams were inconveniencing them all. She just wished things would go back to normal. That she could start to feel normal again.

She pushed off from the door and began to walk down the hallway, heading for the stairs to make her way down to the kitchen. Walking over to the cabinet by the refrigerator where the glasses were kept and pulled one down. She turned toward the refrigerator, reached out to open it, until she saw something out of the corner of her eye and quickly turned around.

"Isaac?" Teagan questioned, wondering if he decided to join her in the kitchen.

She heard the sound of someone rushing across the room behind her and quickly spun around, looking in all the dark shadows, wishing she would have turned on the overhead light when she entered the room. Anything could be hiding in the dark room, anything could be sneaking up on her at any moment and she didn't like that feeling at all.

"Hello?" She nervously called out.

She gasped in surprise and turned around again when she heard something walk up behind her, then breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw it was just Aspen.

"Silly boy… you scared me." Teagan said with a smile, as she petted the dog on top of his head. "So I guess it was you sneaking around, huh?" She stated, as she kept petting him.

Planning to walk back over to the refrigerator, but when she turned she came face to face with a person she never thought she would see again –her mother; Lisa.

Teagan screamed out as she jumped back from her mom, dropping the glass that was in her hand, causing it to shatter upon impact.

"No, you're not real." Teagan mumbled, as she took another step back when her mom began to walk toward her. "No, no, no. This isn't real… this isn't real. You're not real. You can't hurt me." She repeated again and again, as she continued to walk backwards, stepping on the broken glass on the floor.

A blood trail followed her, but she couldn't even feel the cuts on her feet. All she could feel was her heart racing in her chest. This couldn't be real. Her mother was dead, she couldn't be in her kitchen. This just wasn't possible.

"Wake up, Teagan." She whimpered out to herself, as she hit the side of her head with her hand. When that didn't work, she began to hit herself over and over again, as she yelled out, "Wake up, Teagan. Wake up, Teagan. WAKE UP, TEAGAN!"

She saw her mom open her mouth, but no words came out, instead all she heard was a loud blood curdling scream.

Teagan sat up in her bed, the scream she heard in her dream was coming from her. Isaac shot up beside her, wrapping his arms around her, as he called out to her, telling her it was okay over and over again, but nothing he said made a difference.

He looked over as the door slammed open and Teagan's father, Paul, rushed into the room. Isaac scooted over on the bed, as Paul sat behind Teagan, pulling her toward him, as he whispered out soothing words, trying to calm her down.

Isaac watched them with a helpless look on his face. Wanting so badly to help but had no idea what to do, he never knew what to do when this happened.

He decided to do the only thing he could think of, he scooted back over toward her, placing his hands on either side of her face and forced her to look at him, as he said, "Shh... it's okay Teagan. It's okay. It was only a dream. Dreams can't hurt you, remember?"

"Dreams can't hurt. Dreams can't hurt." Teagan mumbled, repeating what he said over and over again until she began to calm down.

Isaac breathed out a sigh of relief when he could hear her heart beat slowing down. He looked up at Paul, giving him a short nod, to let him know she was calming down now and he could release her.

He slowly lowered his arms and scooted back from his daughter, keeping a close eye on her in case she started to fall apart again, but; thankfully that didn't happen.

She continued to take deep breaths as she locked eyes with Isaac, who was breathing with her, showing her what to do.

The two spoke to her for a few minutes, making sure she was okay now, then Paul left the room to take a shower to get ready for work while Teagan and Isaac decided to head down to the kitchen to get breakfast started. He hoped doing something simple together like cooking, would help clear her mind.

Isaac grabbed the carton of eggs and some bacon from the refrigerator then began to fry the bacon on the stove, as she stood off to the side, leaning back against the counter, lost in her own thoughts.

The two didn't say much as he finished up the bacon then called out her name, asking her to grab him a plate to put the bacon on. She stared off oblivious to what he said, until he called out her name a few more times.

"Hmm?" She asked, as she snapped out of it and looked over at him.

"I asked if you could get me a plate." Isaac repeated.

"Oh… right, sorry." Teagan mumbled, as she turned around and opened the cabinet door. She reached up to grab a plate then turned around to hand it to him, apologizing again.

"I thought it was getting better. I hoped it was getting better, but I think I'm getting worse." Teagan admitted, as she looked over at him with a fearful expression on her face.

"You're going to be okay. Whatever is going on, we'll figure it out, and we'll fix it. We're in this together, okay? It's you and me." Isaac said, as he locked eyes with her, showing her how serious he was about this. He didn't care how bad it got or how long it took to solve it, he wasn't leaving her. He would be by her side until the end.

"This whole dream within a dream thing is so confusing. They all feel so real, it's hard to tell what is real and what's a dream." Teagan explained, as she turned around to open the cabinet again to grab another plate when she noticed he was almost done scrambling some eggs. "I mean how do I even know this is real. I thought the last one was real. It started out normal, just getting some water, but then turned into another nightmare. So what if I'm in the middle of another dream now?" She asked, as she reached up to grab a plate.

When she heard a shattering noise coming from behind her, she quickly spun around to see that Isaac had dropped a glass. It was now in pieces on the floor just like the dream she just woke up from.

"No, no, no. This isn't happening." She mumbled, as she grabbed the side of her head while looking down at the glass, feeling like she was in a dream again, just like she had feared.

"It's okay. I'll clean it up." Isaac offered, seeing she was getting upset. He didn't understand why a broken glass upset her so much, but he wasn't going to question it. He was just going to clean it up as soon as possible.

"No, no. Don't you see? This isn't real. This isn't real, Isaac. This is another part of the dream." Teagan tried to explain, but only made him even more confused. "I-I broke a glass, you broke a glass, it's a dream. It's always a dream." She mumbled, sounding even crazier.

"Shh, no, babe, this is real. This is all real, just an accident, but I'll clean it up." Isaac called out, as he grabbed her by the shoulders, trying to get through to her.

"No, it's a dream… always a dream. I'll prove it." Teagan argued, as she sank down to the floor in front of the broken glass.

"What are you doing?" Isaac asked, as he watched her pick up a big chunk of glass before standing back up. "Teagan, no! Put that down." He called out, when he saw the broken glass in her hand.

"I'll prove it. If this is real it will hurt. Remember? Dreams can't hurt me." Teagan stated before slicing her hand open with the piece of glass.

"Jeez! Teagan! What are you doing?" Isaac called out, as he watched the blood drip from her hand.

"If it's real it'll hurt." Teagan said a few times, almost as if she was chanting it, as she watched her hand fill with blood. She glanced up to look at Isaac, as if in a daze, as she mumbled, "It's not real."

"Teagan..." Isaac said carefully, as he saw her look back down at the piece of glass in her hand. He said her name again, as he took a step toward her, wanting to get the glass from her before she hurt herself again. When he saw her getting ready to slice her hand again he screamed out her name, getting her attention.

Teagan snapped her head up with a gasp, coming out of the dream, and seeing her father standing before her with a horrified look on his face. He grabbed the broken glass from her hand and tossed it into the trash can then grabbed her bleeding hand and led her over to the sink to wash it off.

"What did you do? Teagan, what did you do?" Paul yelled out at his daughter, as he cleaned her hand off.

Teagan cried out in pain, as the warm water hit the cut on her hand. She tried to think about what did happen. She and Isaac were in the kitchen talking while he cooked them breakfast or were they?

It started out so normal, like all her nightmares. They started normal then quickly turned which was why she was so convinced that was a dream and decided to slice her hand open to prove it to Isaac.

Now; here she stood in the kitchen finally awake and alone with just her dad, no Isaac and a bloody hand. Were they ever even in the kitchen? Was she right and that was only a dream? But if so how was her palm bleeding now…

"What happened, Teagan?" Paul asked, as he shut off the water and pressed a towel against her hand to stop the bleeding.

"I-I don't know." Teagan mumbled, as she glanced around the kitchen in confusion. She looked back over at her dad as she asked, "Where's Isaac?"

"He's at Scott's, remember?" Paul said, as he looked over her with a worried look on his face.

"He wasn't here last night? He was never here?" Teagan asked confused.

"No, not last night. You told him you would be okay to sleep alone. You don't remember this?" Paul asked her. He saw her shake her head as tears filled her eyes.

After the nightmares had started, he and Isaac both basically slept in her room, just in case she needed them, but then things were getting better or so they thought. She told them she was better and they could sleep in their own beds.

That was a week ago. Now they were back and worse than ever.

"Do you remember anything from this past week?" Paul questioned.

"No." Teagan whimpered out. She looked up at him with tears streaming down her face as she cried out, "Daddy, what is happening? I don't understand what is happening."

"I don't know." Paul sighed, as he pulled her toward him as she broke down and started to cry. "But we'll figure it out, Sweet Tea. We'll figure it out." He added, as he kissed the top of her head before resting his head on top of hers with sigh. He closed his eyes, feeling helpless and worried about his little girl. He didn't know how to help her or what to do, but he wasn't going to give up, no matter what.

**~()~**

With a pained groan Avery reached over to her bedside table to shut off her alarm, but the frustrated noise was followed by an even louder distressed moan when she remembered her alarm clock was now across the room on her dresser.

She'd moved it there over a week ago when she'd started hitting the snooze or shutting the alarm off and not getting out of the bed until after noon.

Slowly sitting up she grabbed onto her head with both hands, and almost threw up when the room started spinning. Quickly laying back down she looked over and saw an empty glass bottle next to the bed, after a small struggle she reached over and grabbed the glass neck, pulling it up in front of her face.

Blinking rapidly for a few moments her vision finally focused enough for her to read the white lettering popping against the dark label; Jack Daniels.

"Oh hell." She breathed, dropping the empty bottle with a thud on her carpeted floor, as her other arm laid over her eyes blocking the early morning light from the windows.

No longer able to ignore her splitting headache or the pulsing against her eardrums from the alarms consistent beeping, she knew it was time to get up and face the world. Ready or not, she had to get moving.

Concentrating on trying to not move her head, she swung her legs out of the bed, before using the last of her energy to stand up.

Holding onto her head, she cursed under breath as she kicked the glass bottle on her stumbling way across the room, thinking to herself that the house had to be on an uneven foundation because she was sure she was walking uphill.

Grabbing the power cord, she jerked it out of the wall and sighed with relief at the silence.

Turning around she tripped back across the room to her closet, gathering a short leather skirt and a red corset styled top, before surveying the mess of mix matched shoes on the floor, deciding on a pair of black stiletto heels, she started into her bathroom.

Stopping in the doorway when something caught her eyes, she wondered what the hell was on her bed.

With an almost eerily slow head turn, she looked over to see a guy she didn't recognize passed out flat on his stomach, in just a pair of black boxers with silver batman symbols on them.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she dramatically dropped her head back and stared up to the ceiling in disbelief at herself. "Not again." She whispered to the silence of the room, before continuing on into the bathroom.

Dropping the clothes in a pile on top of the dark pink ottoman against the wall, she paused to look in the mirror.

Thick black eyeliner was smeared from her eyes, her lightly tanned skin was missing it's normal healthy glow; upon closer inspection she realized maybe the light that was missing was from her eyes.

Swallowing hard, she forced herself to take a good look at her reflection until she finally couldn't stand it anymore.

After taking a steaming hot shower, and drying her bouncy, blonde locks she applied her smoky, dark make up and light glittery lipstick, before sitting down on the ottoman and pulling her shoes on.

Without another look in the mirror, she marched back into her room. Picked her backpack up from her computer chair, then kicked the empty whiskey bottle under her bed where she heard it clank against several other bottles.

Standing next to the bed she frowned trying to recall the strangers name, but she couldn't.

"Screw it." She mumbled as she walked out of her bedroom, leaving the door wide open.

"Good morning." Richard responded gruffly as Avery walked into the kitchen.

She barely acknowledged his presence as she opened the cabinet to grab a coffee mug.

"Coffee will only dehydrate you more… you need water. And this…" She looked over to see he was, pushing a new bottle of aspirin towards her.

Avoiding his eyes she grabbed a cold bottle of water and took a few of the pills, wishing they were something stronger. It was going to take more than a few aspirin and water to cure this hangover.

"Avery…" He started to say, but she cut him off.

"I need to get going, I have school."

"I was looking at the credit card bill for one of the cards you carry and there was a charge for… skydiving lessons?" He asked, with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, so?" She questioned, like it wasn't a big deal at all.

"So, when and why the hell did you take up skydiving?" He pushed, not fully understanding what was happening to her.

How could he? He still had no idea that his wife had been alive the entire time they'd mourned her death. She'd kept it from him to spare him the heartache, but keeping it in only meant suffering through it alone in the house.

Shrugging a response she said, "I did it to get a rush."

"Is this about Derek?"

"Huh?" She asked turning to look at him as he stood from his seat at the kitchen island.

"The late nights, the drinking… are you trying to get back at him for leaving? Because Avery if that's what's happening, give me his number and I'll make him get his werewolf ass back here to pull you out of this!" He said, talking loudly on purpose to make her head hurt worse.

Groaning she picked her sunglasses up from where they were hooked on her bag strap and pulled them on, not only to block out the light but to keep him from seeing how disappointed she was in herself.

"This isn't about Derek, we came to an agreement and we're both just trying to move on with our lives." She answered truthfully.

He waited until she'd taken a few steps then called, "And what am I supposed to tell your company when he stumbles down the stairs in few hours?"

Rolling her eyes from under the thick, dark designer shades she flipped her hair over her shoulder and coldly responded, "Tell him to lose my number, I don't date guys who wear superhero underwear."

Following her to the door, he pushed, "Avery, I'm just trying to understand what's happening, figure out what's wrong with you because if this isn't about Derek, then I don't know what's going on at all."

She nearly stumbled over a rock that landed wrong beneath her shoe as she closed her eyes at his words. For one of the first times in her life, he was reaching out to her and she couldn't tell him what was going on.

Sowly, her hand went to the necklace around her neck, the Celtic knot necklace that had belonged to her mother. As her thumb rubbed over the smooth charm she said, "I'm fine, dad."

Richard rubbed his hands over his tired face and watched as she got into her 65' mustang and drove off, he could only hope she was really headed towards the school.

**~()~**

Pulling into the parking lot of the high school she shut her car off and started to reach over into the passenger seat for her book bag, but when her fingers grazed over a smooth, warm surface she looked over, gasping and throwing he body against the driver side door trying not to scream when she saw dead black birds in her seat.

Whimpering and trying to open her door through the panic, her hand couldn't find the release handle to grant her freedom. In the state of panic she wondered how the birds even got in there. The only window she'd rolled down to drive there was her window, and there was no way she could have missed that.

Forcing herself to look back over, she saw the birds weren't there anymore. Meaning they weren't ever there in the first place.

Resting her forehead against the steering wheel, she tried to get her mind and her day back on track. But it had been weeks since she'd even been able to think straight.

She'd been trying so hard to appear fine, pushing everything from her mind so she could get through the day. Anymore she felt like she only existed through the day until she could find her next escape, whether it was hiding in the bottom of a bottle or getting lost in a one night stand.

With a loud, frustrated scream she threw her phone at her front window so hard, it bounced off into the backset, feeling like she was about to break. But she couldn't, breaking down –showing weakness wasn't an option.

Taking a deep breath she held it in her lungs and slowly released it until she felt more in control than she had moments prior.

Her gaze stopped on a group of students, some leaning against and some sitting on someone's open truck bed, who'd had a front row seat to her freaking out. "Great." She mumbled as she rolled her window up, then gave them her middle finger to let them know she didn't appreciate being spied on.

Picking her phone up from the back of the car, she stared down at it and slowly closed her eyes. Remembering the one and only time she'd tried to reach out to Derek since he'd left town.

**(Flashback)**

"Avery! Avery, open your eyes, it's okay!"

Slowly she popped open one eye and looked around, finally able to catch her breath.

"What the hell is happening to you?" Richard questioned, as he held onto his teenage daughters shoulders, concern on his face.

Not even thinking she blurted out, "Lenore, is dead and there were all these dead birds!"

Looking over his shoulder to the fish tank sitting on her desk, he saw the purple and blue beta fish lying on the rocks at the bottom of the tank.

"What dead birds?" He questioned.

"I didn't mean dead birds." She snapped, realizing her slip up. Ever since the night in the woods when she'd drawn off of dark energies to fight against her mom, she couldn't get the image of all the dead birds out of her mind.

Looking back to the fish tank he asked, "Avery, this is the 3rd fish you've gotten this week, why are you standing here screaming?"

Her confused expression grew, she didn't remember screaming.

Then his eyebrows lowered in confusion, "Didn't you name the other two Lenore, too?"

Sighing, Avery closed her eyes and mumbled a line of poetry under her breath, "Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow. From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore."

"Poe?" Her dad questioned, growing more confused by the second.

She nodded.

With an exasperated sigh he said, "That's why you're naming every fish you get Lenore?" then he paused, realizing he was getting off topic and away from the important concerning matters, "We can get you another a fish, they only cost a few dollars."

"You want me to get rid of it?" He asked.

She nodded and stood perfectly still, in the same position she'd been in as he scooped the small lifeless body up in the green net, and gave her one last look before going downstairs.

A little while later she heard a downstairs toilet flush and she felt tears burn her eyes. Sure, it was just a fish, but she hadn't meant to kill it.

Ever since all the birds sacrificed themselves to give her power in the woods, she couldn't seem to draw energy off of anything without hurting or killing something. If she tried to draw energy off fire, it spread too quickly to be contained.

If she tried it with water, whatever animals were in the water died. Which is why she'd gotten a fish at the beginning of the week, sadly it hadn't made it through the day, neither did the second. But the third one, she'd kept alive for a few days and just as she was starting to think she could control herself, she'd gotten greedy in her practicing. Drew in too much energy and now she had an empty fish tank and a broken heart.

How was she supposed to be there for her friends, give them the advice she needed to as an emissary if she couldn't even preform a simple task. What if someone was badly injured and she needed to heal them, the right herbs will only go so far without the vigor to use their natural powers properly. At this rate, she was afraid anything she got near was going to die. And she didn't want to hurt anything, not even a fish.

Walking over to her dresser, she pulled open the top drawer and retrieved a bottle of alcohol, before dropping to the floor with a thud as she took the lid off and started to drink.

She wasn't sure how long had passed, but she soon found herself laying on her stomach realizing how bad she needed to vacuum her carpet that something caught her eye underneath her dresser.

Lazily she crawled closer and stretched until her hand finally was able to grasp onto something, pulling it out she stared down to the dark reflective lenses as her reflection stared back at her from the sunglasses.

Tears welled up in her eyes, they weren't her sunglasses. They were a pair of Derek's, she'd know them anywhere.

Laying them down on the carpet she laid on her stomach, both arms crossed under her chin as she continued to stare at them. Realizing they must have fell and gotten kicked under there when he was still living with her.

By the time she'd finally managed to get up off her floor and disconnect her phone from the charger, she was dialing his number which rang before going to voicemail.

Her body shook from her tears as she slid down the wall next to her window until she was sitting on the floor, where she redialed his number with her now tear soaked hands, when the second call also went to voicemail, she didn't hang up at the tone.

Taking in a deep, ragged breath she clutched the phone to her ear with one hand, while she held onto her forehead with the other.

"Derek, it's me…" She slurred, before a loud sob. "I know I shouldn't be calling you, we agreed this was for the best... but I don't know what to do, or who I am anymore. You said it was my mom who killed those birds, but it wasn't, okay? It was me! I killed them."

Her lips quivered as she angrily tried to wipe away the constant stream of tears to no avail.

Pulling in a shuddering breathing between her teeth she admitted to him something she was only just admitting to herself, "Something is wrong with me, I don't know how to control it. I'm terrified, and I don't have anyone."

Pinning her eyes shut she hated letting weakness show but she couldn't get her mouth to stop talking, "I… I just… I need someone, please come back home."

The message ended with her letting out a frustrated scream when her phone screen froze on the call and took several seconds to respond to her touch.

Dropping the phone to the floor, she threw her head back appreciating the splitting pain the impact with the wall gave her. Even for those few seconds, it was a distraction from her aching heart and tortured soul.

**(End of flashback)**

Groaning at how weak she must have sounded in that message she'd left weeks ago, she reasoned that she probably wouldn't have wanted to come back to someone pathetic enough to not only drunk dial them, but to pour her heart out on a voicemail.

There were moments when she could think clearly about how it was probably for the best that they stayed apart, but then she had moments of weaknesses where she wanted him back even if it killed them both.

Swinging open her car door she stepped, tucking the phone down in a side pocket of her back pack before shutting the car door and checking her hair and make-up in the windows reflection.

Taking a deep breath, she released it, plastering one of her trademark smiles as she held her head high and walked towards the school, determined to make everyone think there was nothing wrong with her; because maybe if she could get enough people to believe the lie, she could start to believe it too.

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><p><strong>AN- Thanks so much for reading! You guys have no idea how excited we are to finally be sharing our version of season 3B, this installment of our Blue Moon series is going to be a lot darker than the first ones, but it's also going to be completely packed full of action and drama! Miss E Charlotte and I both agree 'The Dark Blue Moon' is the best of our series so far!**

**I know I said we were going to post the first chapter on Saturday, but we were just too excited to wait! ^_^**

**Don't forget the links to our Tumblr pages, Polyvore collections and even links to videos and playlists can be found on our profiles! And if you ever have any questions about our series, feel free to message either one of us and we'll help as much as we can.**

**So, what did you all think of the first chapter? The end of 3A really took a toll on both girls, huh? We'd both really appreciate it if you'd take a few moments to leave a review and let us know if you're reading our story. ^_^**


	2. Just Breathe

**Chapter 2 – Just Breathe**

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><p>Avery opened her locker door and flashed herself a wide smile in the mirror as she let out the breath she'd been holding. Her goal for the day was simple, make it through and appear normal. She could do that, she'd been doing it for weeks.<p>

Looking up she saw Scott stumbling down the hallway not looking up, as he headed straight for her.

She barely made it out his way in time, as he cut between her and her locker door staring into the small magnetic mirror on the inside of her door.

Breathing a sigh of relief he leaned up against the lockers beside hers.

When he saw Avery staring at him with raised eyebrows he was a little out of breath from running as he admitted, "When I was outside, I saw my reflection in my helmet and my eyes were glowing."

She nodded but didn't say anything, knowing he wasn't done.

"And then I saw my shadow…"

"Terrifying!" She joked

"Only it wasn't my shadow… it –it looked just like Peter, when he was an alpha." He admitted, his voice quiet.

"Yikes." Avery breathed out as she pulled her locker door some so she could apply another coat of mascara in the mirror.

As she twisted the lid back onto the bottle she nonchalantly questioned, "Why are you telling me?"

Giving her a confused look he said, "Because… you know…"

She continued to give him an expectant look.

Stepping closer he motioned between them as he nodded and said, "You know, because of our connection."

Raising her eyebrows she stifled a laugh as she looked down to her shoes then back to him, "Sorry, Scott… you're just not really my type."

His eyes widened as he stuttered out, "No… I mean, our connection… you know what I mean, as friends. It happened when I crossed that mountain ash, do you not feel it?"

Barely able to keep a straight face at seeing him wondering if he was the only one who felt it, she cut him off, "Scott, we're not even friends… we just hang out with some of the same people.

His jaw dropped and she shrugged before she finally cracked a smile as she laughed, "Oh my god, lighten up! It's a joke, and yes… I feel it too. I'm just still getting used to this whole emissary thing. Normally it's only Teagan who comes to me for advice."

Pausing she continued, "And Isaac… who actually comes to me all the time for help and advice… I think he needs his own personal emissary."

"Avery!" Scott loudly said cutting her off.

Waving a hand dismissing both her thoughts and ramblings she said, "I think you're still trying to get used to this new strength and power you've got. But honestly, I'm not worried."

"I am! I am very worried, I feel like… I just don't have control anymore."

Frowning she nodded, "I know that, I also know you didn't have any good alpha role models either. Peter was a monster, and Derek… well, he just went around biting teenagers. But think about it, you turned into an alpha all on your own, Scott; because you refused to be a killer, because you had the strength and will inside of you to be something amazing."

With a smile he said, "I know you helped me."

"And I'm still here. But the point is, you have the power and the ability to control your werewolf side." Taking a step closer she continued, "You just need to believe in yourself, know that someone as good as you would never turn into Peter, or anything like him."

"But…" He started to argue.

"Stop!" Avery exclaimed.

"Scott, look at me and focus." She instructed, when he did she moved her hands as she spoke like she was pulling air towards her as she said, "Take a deep breath."

They both inhaled at the same time, relaxing her hands out to the sides she said, "Now exhale."

Despite the other teenagers who stared at them as they walked by, Avery had him repeat the exercise a few more times.

After they stopped he stared at her a few moments with a surprised look as he admitted, "I actually feel better… thank you."

Smiling she closed her locker and said, "Breathe Scott, remember… just breathe. The world and every single problem can wait a few moments while you catch your breath."

**~()~**

After arriving at school, Teagan kept her head down as she walked down the hallway, making her way toward her locker. She opened the locker door, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror hanging on the door, then quickly looked away when she saw how badly she looked.

She blew out a tired breath, then reached into her purse, pulling out the small make up bag she kept in there for emergencies, and with the way her face looked right now, this was definitely an emergency.

She pulled out a tube of concealer, dabbing it under her eyes, then began to blend it in, trying to cover up the dark circles under her eyes. Once she was done, she placed the bag back in her purse. She suddenly jerked her head up, when she heard someone walk over to her, stopping in front of her, a fearful look in her eyes until she realized it was Avery.

"Hey." Avery said, flashing a smile, looking completely put together when inside she was falling apart.

"Hi." Teagan mumbled back, as she turned to face the inside of her locker to begin changing out her book.

Avery was quiet for a moment, just watching her best friend. She didn't miss the fear in her eyes earlier when she walked up, or the bags under her eyes that she tried to hide, and she definitely didn't miss the bandage around her hand.

"Okay, T, what gives?" Avery asked, worried about her friend, who looked like she was seconds away from breaking down.

"What?" Teagan asked, as she looked over at Avery, confused.

"Well, let's see, you look like crap-"

"Thanks, A. Seriously, you just know the right words to make my day instantly better." Teagan snapped sarcastically.

Avery rolled her eyes, then continued, "I didn't mean it like that. I just mean you look like you haven't had any sleep at all, and what is what the bandage on your hand?"

"I cut myself. It's no big deal." Teagan simply stated, not giving any more details.

"It looks like a big deal." Avery pointed out, as she grabbed Teagan's hand, trying to get a closer look.

"Stop it!" Teagan said, as she jerked her hand away. "I told you, it's nothing, just drop it."

Avery looked her over again, as she lowered her eyebrows in concern. "Are you having the nightmare again? Is that what's wrong?" She questioned, remembering that Teagan mentioned having dreams of being back in the root cellar a few times, but that is all she told her about it, not wanting to worry her too much.

Teagan sighed, then looked over at Avery, plastering a fake smile on her face, as she said, "I'm fine. Sorry for snapping, I'm just tired… too much studying and not enough sleep."

"Really?" Avery questioned, feeling like there was more to it.

"Really." Teagan said back, continuing to lie.

"Okay. If you say so." Avery mumbled, as she held up her hands in surrender, letting Teagan know she was dropping it for now.

But she continued to watch her best friend as she went back to changing out her books. When she saw something fall out of her bag, she called out to Teagan, letting her know something dropped out, then leaned down to pick it up.

She looked at the rose gold infinity bracelet, then looked up at Teagan, as she asked, "Is this one yours or your moms?" She knew the two had identical bracelets.

Teagan glanced over her shoulder to look, and felt the air leave her lungs as she noticed it was her moms, which surprised her since she never put it in her bag. Of course every time lately her mother's bracelet popped up, she never remembered putting it there.

She didn't say anything, as she reached out to grab the bracelet, then gasped when her vision began to blur when she touched it. She faintly heard her mother calling out her name, begging her to listen.

"No, stop. Stop it!" Teagan cried out, as she placed her hands over her ears, not wanting to hear her mother's voice.

"Teagan..." Avery called out, wanting to help, but had no idea what was going on with her friend.

Every time Avery said her name, Teagan would hear it in her mother's voice instead of her best friends, making her cry out, begging her to stop and to leave her alone.

Avery glanced around, notching they were gathering a crowd, and reached out to lightly grab one of Teagan's arms to lead her away. When Teagan tried to pull away, Avery latched on to her arm, causing her to cry out in pain.

Avery hated to hurt her, but she had to get her out of the hallway before things escalated. She pushed students aside, snapping at them to mind their own business, as she pulled Teagan into the closest girls' restroom.

Once they were inside, Teagan pulled away from her, this time Avery let her go, and watched as she laid her face and hands against the cool tiles on the wall; panting.

"Teagan?" Avery softly asked, scared to approach her at first, but when she heard her begin to cry she rushed over to her side. "Hey, Teagan, look at me." She said, trying to get her attention.

Teagan turned her head to look, and then jerked away when she saw her mother's face instead of Avery's. She began to back up again, holding out a hand, as she cried, "No! No, just-just leave me alone. You're not real. This isn't real!"

"Teagan, listen to me, I am real. This..." Avery began to say, as she gestured between them, "This is real. We are real, I promise we are real."

Avery continued to talk to her, trying to convince her that everything going on was real, never realizing that Teagan was seeing her mother in place of her. Every word she said, Teagan saw come out of her mother's mouth, upsetting her even more.

"It's just a dream, it has to be a dream. Please be a dream." Teagan whimpered out, as her back hit the wall. She slid down the wall, sitting down on the floor, as she continued to cry, growing even more distraught.

When she began to gasp for breath, Avery really became concern. She had seen this before with Teagan and knew what was happening now, she was having a panic attack.

"No, no, no." Avery called out, as she rushed over at her. "Teagan, you have to calm down. You have to breathe, okay?" She continued, trying to help her friend the way she saw Isaac do the last time.

As her breathing became even more difficult, Avery called out her name, trying to get her attention, and saw the overhead light flicker for just a moment, but ignored it, as she said Isaac's name. She knew wherever he was in the school he would be able to hear her.

"Isaac, girl's restroom -east wing, now!" Avery said, knowing he would be able to calm her friend down.

A few, long, minutes later, the bathroom door swung open, as Isaac rushed in. He saw his girlfriend sitting on the floor with a blotchy, red face as she gasped for breath. He glanced over at Avery for a second, as he asked, "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know, but fix it!" Avery yelled out, as she pointed at her best friend, her heart beating in her chest with fear.

Isaac opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, he jumped in surprise when a light overhead blew out, making a loud pop sound. He looked up at the light in confusion for a second, but figured it was just an old light.

Before he could think on it any longer, he heard Teagan gasp, bringing him back to what was really important, helping his girlfriend. He rushed over to Teagan, dropping down to his knees in front of her as he placed his hands on either side of her face.

Teagan looked at her boyfriend with teary eyes, as she murmured _'it's not real'_ in between gasps, her body shaking and heart racing.

"Shh, baby, it's okay." Isaac said with a calm voice, hoping to get through to her. When he saw her look over his shoulder at Avery with wide eyes, he softly stroked her cheek, as he said, "Hey, hey, just look at me. Baby, look at me, concentrate on me, okay? It's just you and me. It's always you and me, remember?"

She closed her eyes, trying to take a deep breath and became even more scared when she couldn't; no matter how hard she tried she couldn't take one, it was like she wasn't even in control of her own body anymore. She couldn't make it do anything.

He saw her slap her hand against the floor repeatedly, like she was fighting against whatever wouldn't let her take in a deep breath.

"What is happening? Why isn't she breathing?" Avery asked panicky, as she kneeled down beside Isaac.

He glanced around the restroom for a moment, trying to think of a way to help her, and was reminded of the first time he helped her with a panic attack. The time she rushed into the mens' restroom gasping for breath and he told her a lame fish joke to distract her.

Isaac turned his head back to look at her, then said, "Hey, what do you call a fish with no eyes?" He paused for a second, then continued, "A fish."

Avery snapped her head to the side, shooting him a look, as she exclaimed, "Seriously? A fish joke?"

"It worked before." Isaac pointed out.

"Well it's not working now." Avery snapped back.

"I see that!" Isaac yelled. He ran his hand through his hair, pulling at the curls and feeling at a loss on how to help. Nothing he had tried before worked this time and she was looking worst and worst the longer time went by.

"Wait, I got this!" Avery suddenly said, an idea coming to mind. Isaac opened his mouth to question her, but before he could, she laid her hands on either side of Teagan's face, pulling her toward her and pressed her lips against hers, causing his mouth to drop open in surprise.

Teagan gave out a big gasp, then held her breath as her eyes went wide. She pulled back looking at Avery in shock, as she finally took a deep breath causing Isaac and Avery to breathe a sigh of relief.

"What-why?" Teagan panted out, as she took several more deep breaths, feeling her breathing slowly return to normal.

"Lydia told me once that holding your breath could stop a panic attack." Avery explained, then added, "So when I kissed you, it shocked you so much you held your breath."

"Is it wrong that I actually enjoyed that?" Isaac joked, trying to lighten the mood. He chuckled when both girls shot him a look.

He turned his head to look at his girlfriend, he wiped the sweat and tears from her cheek, as he asked, "Are you okay now?"

"I-I think so." Teagan mumbled, as she glanced down at the floor. Embarrassed that things got that bad, and at school no less. "I mean yeah, I'm good, I'm okay." She added, seeing the worried looks on their faces.

"What happened?" Isaac questioned, as he moved to sit beside her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her toward him so she could rest against him, her head now laying on his shoulder.

"It was- It was nothing. Just a little panic attack." Teagan answered, trying to brush it off, as she moved her head to rest against his neck cuddling into him. She hoped by doing so it would help chase all the bad thoughts away.

"Bullshit! That was more than just a little attack." Avery argued. "You were freaking out, T. And what did you mean by this isn't real? What is going on?" She questioned.

"I'll like to know that too." Isaac added. Even if she was breathing normal now and he could hear that her heart beat was steady, the look on her face when he walked into the room still haunted him. This was worse than any other attack she had in the past.

"It's nothing." Teagan denied, as she pulled away from Isaac. She would have stood up, but felt too weak to at the moment, the attack had taken a toll on her. She looked at the two staring at her, knowing they wanted an actual answer.

"I told you I didn't sleep well last night." She began to say, as she looked at Avery. She lowered her head, avoiding their eyes, and rubbed her forehead, "And I guess I just spaced out for a moment. I have a big test coming up today and I'm a little stressed about it." She dropped her hand and raised her head to look at them again, hoping they were buying her lie, as she stated, "I'm fine."

Avery looked at her for a moment, then over at Isaac, seeing if he was buying her excuse and noticed he wasn't.

Avery stood up as she said, "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Isaac questioned.

"Just keep her here, I'll be back." Avery stated, as she began to walk toward the door.

"What do you mean 'keep her here'? I'm not a child, Avery!" Teagan yelled out, as her best friend rushed out the door on a mission. She tried to push herself up from the floor, then quickly sat back down, still not having any strength.

"Hey, whoa, just rest here for a minute, okay?" Isaac said, pleading with her.

"Why? So you and Avery can keep treating me like mental case?" Teagan snapped. "I told you, I am fine!"

"I know." Isaac said, as he pushed a lock of hair from her face. "But it'll make me feel better if you just sit here with me until you get your strength back. Just sit here with me, okay?" He pleaded.

Teagan looked at him for a moment, she could tell her attack really shook him up. She hated to make him worry about her, he had seen her woke up screaming several times the last few weeks as she was hit with nightmare after nightmare.

It was taking a toll on him and her father, and neither one knew how to help her. Not that she even knew how to help herself, all she wanted was to be okay again, to be normal again.

"Just let me hold you." Isaac softly said, as he ran his fingers through her hair, needing to be close to her -to comfort her and himself.

Hearing the pain in his voice, she nodded her head, then scooted closer to him and threw her legs over his lap. As he wrapped his arms around her holding her close, she buried her face in his shirt and taking a long, deep breath finally feeling herself relax.

After running out of the restroom, Avery skidded to a stop to keep from running into a pretty asian girl. She titled her head to the side, not recognizing girl and figured she was a new student.

When the girl went to walk around Avery and opened the door, she quickly jumped in front of the door, as she barked, "Sorry, bathroom is closed."

"But… I don't see a sign saying that." The girl said, then added, "Besides I just saw you come out of it."

"Aw, you're so new, it's cute." Avery said, as she folded her hands and shot the girl a grin. "Trust me, when Avery Dukate says something is closed, it is closed."

"I take it you're Avery Dukate." The girl said with a shy smile.

"The one and only." Avery said back. She pointed down the hall way, then said, "Then is another restroom that way. All the way down the hall and take a left."

"Okay, thanks." The girl said, as she took a few steps back, feeling like the blonde wasn't being completely honest, but what could she do about it? She was new and not looking to make enemies.

Once the girl was gone, Avery jumped into action rushing down the hallway in the opposite direction looking for Scott. After her talk with him earlier and seeing Teagan's freak out, it was plain to see something was going on and if she was the betting type, she would bet Stiles was having some issues too. All of it stemmed from the sacrifices they did weeks ago to save their parents. She had also been having her share of bad dreams, and wouldn't wish that on any of her friends.

She saw her friends; Scott, Stiles, Allison and Lydia, standing down the hall talking. She made her way over toward them, grabbing one of Lydia's arms and one of Allison's arms. Looking over at Scott and Stiles, seeing the same scared and confused looks on their faces that she saw on Teagan's earlier.

"Come with me." Avery announced to the group, as she began to walk back down the hall pulling the girls with her while the boys followed along behind them.

The group walked into the bathroom seeing Teagan and Isaac sitting on the floor, his arms still around her, as her head was resting on his shoulder.

"What's going on?" Allison asked, as she glanced around, wondering why they were all in the bathroom.

"Bathroom orgy?" Stiles guessed.

"What's going on is..." Avery began to say, ignoring Stiles' comment. She looked over at Scott, then continued, "You're seeing terrifying wolf shadows..." Looking down at Teagan,"You've had nightmares and now you're freaking out and having a panic attack..." She turned to look at Stiles, then said, "And I'm going to guess something is going on with you too, am I right?"

Stiles didn't say anything, just nodded his head, causing her to say, "That's what I figured; something is happening with all of you."

"Well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one." Lydia said to the group with a tight smile.

"We're not crazy." Teagan mumbled from the floor, she was now sitting in Isaac's lap.

"Hallucinating… sleep paralysis?" Avery began to say.

"Panic attacks." Isaac added, as he tightened his hold on Teagan.

Avery pointed over at him with a nod, agreeing with him, as she added, "Yeah, you guys are fine."

"We did die and come back to life. That's gotta have some side effects, right?" Scott pointed out, as he looked around the group.

Before anyone could comment, they heard the bell ring, signaling the start of their first class and causing them all to groan.

"We keep an eye on each other. Okay?" Stiles offered.

"Sounds good." Isaac said, as he helped Teagan up from the floor. She finally felt like she could stand on her own two feet without feeling dizzy.

After the group was in agreement, they all walked out of the bathroom together. Scott, Stiles and Avery headed for their first class, as Lydia and Allison walked off together.

Isaac turned to look at Teagan, then said, "We still need to talk about what just happened."

"Later. I promise." Teagan said, as she gave him a quick kiss then rushed down the hallway hoping he would never bring it up again, but she knew she wasn't that lucky.

**~()~**

Avery walked into her history class giving a small wave to both Scott and Stiles, before walking to her seat in the back of the classroom.

With a sigh she checked her phone to see if anyone had texted, as she replied to her missed messages the last bell rang and she looked up to see they had a new teacher.

"Good morning, everyone. My name is Mr. Yukimura. I'll be taking over for your previous history teacher, my family and I moved here three weeks ago. I'm sure by now you all know my daughter, Kira."

Avery raised her head and looked around wondering who Kira was.

"Or you might not since she's never actually mentioned anyone from school… or brought home a friend for that matter…"

Hearing a sigh then a thud Avery looked over to see the girl beside her slam her head down on her arms over her desk.

"Either way… there she is." He continued as he pointed to his daughter.

Avery's eyes widened as she realized it was the same girl she'd help from going into the bathroom earlier, there was still something different about her; an energy she could still feel in the air.

The class laughed at the new girl's expense and Avery looked over as she joked, "You didn't tell your dad about us?"

Kira raised her head and stared at her with wide eyes as she her mouth hung open in shock.

"And here, I thought we were friends, Kira?" Avery continued, as all eyes were now on her.

Kira stuttered out as she stared at her and then looked up to her dad, "Oh… I -uh... I've made friends with Avery… I guess?"

Her dad looked between the girls sitting in the back row of the room and said, "Well this is the first I've heard about it, why haven't you invited her over for dinner or anything?"

Kira's light complexion darkened from embarrassment as she said, "I… didn't really think Avery would be interested." She was more confused than anything, she'd only first spoken to her earlier that day when Avery had refused to let her into a bathroom. But it was obvious the blonde liked being the center of attention.

"That's ridiculous, Kira." Avery said with a playful eye roll, before she leaned forward over her desk some as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and said, "I would love to come to dinner with you and your father." Her gaze was now focused on the their new teacher.

With a friendly smile, and either not picking up on her flirtatious behavior or deciding to not acknowledge it at all he said, "I'm sure you and Kira can work something out, I'm glad she's been making friends."

Avery smiled widely as she nodded as she reached over giving Kira's arm a small squeeze as if they were really friends. The new student nervously laughed and looked around, not sure how to act.

A low rumble of laughter went through the room and Kira scooted down in her seat some, wishing she could turn invisible, but the painful moment was quickly resolved when Avery loudly said, "Shut up!"

The room fell silent and she leaned back in her seat as she drummed her nails on the desk and added, "I for one am looking forward to hearing Mr. Yukimura's… fascinating lesson plan for today."

She looked over to see Scott and Stiles looking back to her, she flashed them a smile and then saw Scott's eyes drift over to Kira where they lingered longer than a curious glance would last.

Turning her head she saw Kira giving him the same interested expression and she smirked as she looked between them again before opening her book to the page number the teacher had instructed.

About halfway through the class she saw Scott shifting in his seat and staring at the floor beside his desk, from where she was sitting all she could see was his shadow from the sun beaming in through the large row of windows.

But then it occurred to her, that while she was seeing his normal shadow lined up with the shadows from everyone in his row, he was seeing something terrifying.

Taking out her phone she quickly sent him a reminder text, with the simple phrase '_just breathe'_.

He jumped when his phone vibrated in his jacket pocket, she watched as he pulled out his phone and looked at it, before taking in a few deep breaths and turning around to shoot her an appreciative smile.

She nodded and put her phone away as she slowly glanced over at Kira who was paying more attention to Scott then she was to the assignment they'd been given.

Avery stared at her, for a moment she could have sworn there was a visible energy in the air around the teenager, but now she didn't see anything.

After class Avery gathered her books and quickly rushed out of the room behind Kira, as she continued to try and figure out what was different about the new girl. When she stopped abruptly, trying to get over to her locker Avery ran right into her knocking them both down.

With a groan of pain Avery raised up ignoring the laughs of fellow students as they walked around the pair.

Kira raised up, trying to gather books and separate her scattered papers from Avery's mess, when the blonde opened her mouth, Kira was expecting an apology but instead Avery snapped, "Who does that? Who just comes to a dead stop in the middle of the crowded hallway?"

Kira's eyes widened and she stuttered out, "I was just trying to get to my locker…"

Then her expression changed as she asked, "Wait… were you following me?"

Avery's own eyes widened slightly, realizing she didn't have an excuse. She truly had been following the teenager, but it's not like she could say she was an Imperium, and thought Kira might not be human.

"You were… you were following me." Kira realized

Rolling her eyes Avery stood with her books and scatted papers in her arm as she extended a hand to the new student, "Yes, I was following you."

Letting Avery help her to her feet she looked at her expectantly. "For a few reasons… one, my locker happens to be down this hallway and two, I wanted to say that I like your skirt, it's cute."

"Oh, um.. thank you?" she said, not sure how to take anything she said.

"Welcome." Avery arched an eyebrow as she started to walk past her, but Kira called out, "Avery, wait!"

As she turned around Kira held out an open notebook with notes from their last class. "It looks really realistic." She offered with a smile.

"Huh?" Avery asked, pulling the book from her hands with lowered eyebrows,

"The bird… it's a raven, right?"

Avery's eyes landed on where she'd sketched a black bird over the center of her page of notes, she had no recollection of doing so.

"I didn't draw this." She stated flatly, pushing the notebook back into the other teenagers hand.

"I saw you drawing in class…" Kira replied, confused as to why her compliment had upset Avery so much.

"No, I didn't." Avery snapped, as she took a step back refusing to take her notebook.

Watching as the blonde turned to walk away Kira called after her, "Avery… your notebook!"

But she didn't turn around as she rushed off towards her next class, repeatedly opening and closing her hand down by her side; trying to ignore the tingling in her fingers, the urge to pull power from the lights or anything with an energy source.

**~()~**

Later that day, after making it through most of her classes, Teagan was now sitting in the library toward the back, hidden in a small corner from everyone. She had planned to get a jump-start on her homework, but after sitting in the quiet room reading through a text book, she began to feel sleepy.

She covered her mouth as she began to yawn, then stretched her arms out in front of her, pushing the books aside, folding up her arms and laid her head on them. Within minutes she was fast asleep.

This was the way Isaac found her half an hour later, after tracking her scent throughout the whole school. He breathed a sigh of relief at finally locating her, as he made his way toward the back of the room.

The first thing he noticed was her racing heart, followed by her whimpering in her sleep -her face was scrunched up like she was in pain or witnessing something horrible.

"Teagan." Isaac softly said, as he stood beside her, not wanting to frighten her. As she continued to mumble out, _'no, stop_', over and over again, he sat down in the chair beside her.

He laid an arm around her shoulder, and placed his other hand on the side of her head planning to pull her toward him to offer her some comfort to help fight whatever was troubling her in her sleep, but when she felt someone touch her, she quickly sat up and pushed away, a small scream escaping her lips.

"Teagan! Hey, baby, it's only me." Isaac said out, trying to reach out to her and stop her from fighting him.

"Isaac." Teagan whimpered out, as she snapped her eyes open and saw he was sitting beside her.

"Yeah, shh, it's me. It's only me, babe." Isaac said, reassuring her that he was there for her. "Shh, come here." He added, as he finally pulled her into his arms, feeling her cling to him and bury her face in his shirt.

"It's okay, it's okay, I got you. I'm right here." He softly said, as he ran a hand up and down her back, hoping to slow down her racing heart.

Resting his head on top of hers, and closing his eyes as a pained look crossed his face. He hated seeing what was happening to her. The nightmares were bad enough to witness, but whatever was happening to her now seemed way worse, he just wished she would let him in, let him help her.

He held on to her a few more minutes until he felt her pulling away, forcing him to regrettably release her. She sniffed and wiped at her cheeks, then ran her fingers through her hair, trying to tame it down.

"You okay now?" Isaac questioned, already knowing she wasn't but knew what her answer would be.

"Yeah, thanks." Teagan breathed out, as she reached out in front of her, grabbing her books.

Isaac breathed out a silent sigh at her lie. He shook his head, then said, "I thought you said they were getting better. The nightmares, you said they stopped."

"They did." Teagan lied.

"Teagan..." Isaac began to say.

"You just scared me is all." Teagan continued, avoiding his eyes.

"What happened to your hand?" Isaac questioned, looked down at her injured hand.

"I cut myself. It was an accident." Teagan simply responded, with a shrug.

"So let me get this straight..." Isaac began to say, as he reached out to grab her chin, forcing her to look at him. "You had a panic attack cause you're stressed over a test, even though I have never seen you stress that much over any test before. You fell asleep in the library and screamed out when I woke you up, then you grabbed on to me like you were scared out of your mind, but it was only cause I scared you, right? That is the excuse you gave me." He paused for a moment, but before she could say anything, he continued, "And you have a bandage on your hand, covering up what looks like a very deep cut, but that was just an accident, right?"

Teagan blew out a frustrated sigh, as she jerk her head away, then quickly stood up to gather up her books with out a word to her boyfriend.

"Where are you going?" Isaac questioned, as he looked up at her in confusion.

"Away from here that's for damn sure." Teagan mumbled. She slammed a book closed, then looked over at Isaac, as she added, "I'm not going to stand here and have you accuse me of lying to you."

"Then stop lying to me!" Isaac said back.

"How am I lying?" Teagan questioned, then added, "I told you, I'm fine! So you can stop looking at me like that!"

"Like what?" Isaac asked confused.

"Like I'm going to break any minute." Teagan answered, her voice slightly shaking, "You should know better than anyone, I am not some weak little girl."

"Hey..." Isaac began to say, hearing the tone of her voice and knowing she was getting upset. "I never thought that Teagan, and I would never say that. I'm just worried about you." He added, as he reached out to grab her hand.

"Well… you can stop worrying about me and just leave me the hell alone!" Teagan snapped.

She pulled her hand away, grabbed all her stuff then stormed away from the tabl, leaving behind a dejected Isaac. He dropped his head with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair.

He was at a loss for words and not sure what to do next. He wanted to chase after her, show her that he wasn't leaving but feared the more he pushed the more she would pull away, and he knew he couldn't let that happen. He couldn't leave her to deal with all of this on her own, he just needed a better way to go about it.

He needed advice and he knew exactly who he could go to.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Thanks for reading! ^_^ We really hope you're liking the story so far, we have so much planned for the rest of this season!**

**Miss E Charlotte and I both have links on our profiles for our Tumblr, Polyvore and more!**

**We'd both really appreciate it if you'd take a few moments and leave us a review. It's all of your support and kind words that keep us inspired to write and update as much as we do! ^_^**


	3. Time Out - Night Out

**Chapter 3 - Time Out/Night Out**

* * *

><p>Kira looked over her shoulder to see Avery was following her again, the day was half over and it seemed like every time she looked over her shoulder the blonde was right there.<p>

Stepping to the side she stopped to turn and faced her.

"Hello." Avery greeted flashing her signature smile as she also slowed to a stop.

"Avery…" Kira said as she shifted uncomfortably.

"Did you need something?" Avery questioned, as if she wasn't the one who'd been stalking the other teenager.

"Me?" She breathed then in a shaky voice responded, "I thought maybe you needed something… since you keep following me."

"What are you?" Avery questioned, trying to see if Kira knew anything about this strange energy she was giving off. Maybe honesty could be the best bet for figuring this mystery out.

"I'm… Kira."

With arched eyebrows she hummed out, "Mhmm…"

"Do you want your notebook back?" Kira asked, but Avery was no longer in their conversation as she watched Scott from down the hallway.

"Kira." Her dad greeted as he started to walk towards the two girls, but Avery quickly walked off, leaving the other teenager with her notebook again.

Kira watched with a defeated expression as she saw Avery grab Scott's hand and pull him into an empty classroom, where another boy she'd seen in class followed them before she sighed and turned back around to listen to her dad.

Once they were in the room, Scott dropped his book bag and jacket to the floor as his eyes continued to glow red, his breathing was labored and he was losing control.

"Scott!" Avery yelled at the same time Stiles tried to assure him, "Scott, its okay."

"Get back!" He yelled as he leaned over a desk and let out a growl, seeing his claws were showing, "Get away from me!"

Stiles took a slow step backwards, remembering the few times Scott had lost control after being bitten. One of the more memorable times was when he'd almost mauled Avery and Stiles both in the locker room; that was when she'd found out about werewolves, the moment that changed everything in her life.

But Avery didn't back away; instead she calmly set her books down on one of the surrounding desks and walked closer, "Scott…"

"I don't know what's going to happen! Get back!"

"I do, I know exactly what is going to happen. You're going to calm down, control your heart rate and breathing. You have the power to do that." She assured him, completely confident as she stepped even closer, despite Stiles trying to remind her she needed to be careful.

Scott yelled for her to stay back as he shoved desks out of his path, trying to put distance between himself and his friends before something bad happened.

Panting for breath and feeling his canine fangs extend a growl sounded through the room again.

"Just breathe."

"I am!" Scott hissed as sweat started to bead across his skin, turning his back to them he leaned on another desk trying to get back in control, but he was worried he wouldn't be able to.

After all, nothing had even set him off, his eyes had just started glowing and his problems had only escalated from there.

"Did I say to breathe like you're running a marathon? No, take a deep breath hold it and let it go."

Normally, he was good at handling her snarky remarks, but in this state of mind even the sound of her voice was setting him off.

"Shut up." His voice was strained; it was taking every single ounce of strength in him to remain in control.

"Breathe!" She said her voice louder.

The sound of her voice in that moment was comparable to nails on a chalkboard, without even giving it a second thought he spun around, swinging a clawed hand at her which she quickly ducked and missed.

"Avery!" Stiles yelled rushing over to them.

Reaching out she put her hands on the sides of Scott's face, seemingly un-phased by the fact that he'd almost turned her skin to ribbons. "Breathe."

Stiles repeatedly yelled out for the both of them, trying to either get Scott to calm down or get Avery to come to her senses and back up.

Ignoring the uncomfortably tight grip Scott's hands had on her forearms, she closed her eyes and concentrated, drawing the anger and blood lust from his transitioning state.

With every emotion and energy she absorbed, his grip loosened on her and his breathing calmed.

Finally his eyes weren't even glowing and his teeth were back to human. Still panting for air his eyes closed and then slowly opened as saw her eyes were barely open, but for a split second he could have sworn her eyes were black; entirely black.

"Avery!" He gasped. Her eyes fluttered open in response and she let go of his head, opening and closings her fists at her sides as the buzzing was now running through her veins, spreading over her entire body. She was surging with energy, with dark power, and most of all she liked it.

The feeling of power radiated and her breathing was labored from the intense rush.

"See, all better." She said smiling.

"Your eyes…" Scott said looking at her confused, then asked, "Wait how did you even do that?"

"It's an emissary thing." She said with a playful wink, as she turned to grab her books and leave. She needed away from them, she'd taken the bloodlust from Scott as he was transitioning, but now that feeling was very much alive inside of her.

"An emissary thing or an Imperium thing?" He questioned, as he could see her energy in the air, the same way it had appeared when he'd found her and Deucalion. The energy was visible like clear distortion above fire.

"Is there really a difference?" She joked, keeping a believable smile on her lips.

"You tell us…" Stiles finally spoke, breaking his silence. He wasn't sure what he'd just seen, which made him uneasy. But he was also thankful that she'd been able help Scott, to calm him down before he snapped and hurt someone.

Just as she reached the door thinking she was home free, Scott stopped her with a gentle grip on her arm. "That… thing you just did back there, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She lied, giving him an entirely believable expression.

"Avery, if helping me with something hurts you, than it's not worth it, and I don't want you to do it." He said, concern covered his every pore as he watched her, feeling guilty for even putting her in that position.

Rolling her eyes Avery laughed, "Seriously, I'm fine. Use your alpha senses and listen to my heart." She paused, "I'm fine, just a little nervous that you almost wolfed out at school."

Her phone went off from her pocket with a text from Lydia, as she checked it before lying, "Lydia needs my help, guys. But I'll see you later."

Scott gave her an appreciative smile, believing everything was fine. As Avery left the room she felt the urge to pat herself on the back, thinking she deserved an academy award for her acting skills.

Checking over her shoulder to make sure they weren't following her, she quickly broke into a run towards the door leading into the basement, she needed away from her friends, away from anyone really, from any living being in case she wasn't able to control herself now.

Sitting down on the dusty floor and slamming her head back against the small, old lockers she breathed heavily and mentally tried to get herself to calm down.

Nervously she reached up, rubbing her thumb and finger over the small three fold Celtic knot necklace that had belonged to her mother, and to her surprise the buzzing all over her body, the urge to draw more power slowly subsided.

Reaching over she pinched her arm, forcing herself back into complete control with the pain on her skin.

With a sigh of relief, she pulled her jacket off, and scooted sideways lying flat on her back against the cold floor. Her last class of the day wasn't important, what was important was that she had some time alone. A moment away from prying eyes to where she didn't have to keep the smile plastered on her face.

Remembering what she kept telling Scott to do when he felt control slipping away, she thought that she needed a moment to just breathe. Feel the air filling up her lungs, and slowly letting it go, she managed a small genuine smile.

**~()~**

After the final bell rung, Teagan quickly made her way toward the parking lot, not in the mood to stand around and chat any more that day. Between the nightmares, hallucinations, panic attack and argument with Isaac, all she wanted was to be left alone.

She hated to avoid everyone, especially Isaac, but she couldn't handle seeing the look in their eyes any longer. The look that clearly said, 'we know you're freaking crazy, let us help', but there was nothing any of them could, there was nothing she could do since she wasn't even sure what was wrong with her in the first place.

What she hated the most about all of this was fighting with Isaac and lying to him. They weren't the type of couple who lied to each other, she was always honest with him in the past, but she knew he would harm himself worrying about her and practically kill himself trying to fix her, and she didn't want that for him.

This was her fault, this was her problem and she needed to solve it, she just didn't know how, she had no idea how to fix herself.

She cranked the car then pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive down the road with her windows down and the wind in her hair, hoping it would blow away all the bad dreams and anxiety she was feeling lately.

After driving down a few roads, she stopped her car at a stop sign, then rested her elbow on the window ledge and laid her head in her hand, as she waited for a few cars to go by before she could continue down the road.

When she heard her cell phone ringing, she glanced over at her purse, which was sitting in the passenger set. She reached into the bag without looking, trying to locate her phone.

She groaned out in frustration when she couldn't find it, then reached over to grab the purse, sitting it in her lap as she pulled some things out to find it. She knew she needed to clean it out, she kept way too much stuff there and in times like this it was a hassle.

She glanced up for a moment, seeing that there were still more cars driving by, giving her more time to locate the ringing phone. She glanced back down to look in the purse, then gasp when she saw the bracelet inside.

Teagan brushed it aside, like she was afraid it would bite her or something, then finally grabbed her phone, which was on the bottom of her purse. Without looking at the caller id, she placed it against her ear and called out a, 'hello'

"Teagan?" She heard a faint voice say, a very familiar voice.

"Mom?" Teagan whimpered out, as she pressed the phone against her ear, trying to hear better.

"Teagan?" The voice said again, the sound going in and out. "Are you there, sweet girl?" She questioned, pleading for her daughter to say something back.

"M-Mom? How-How are you calling me?" Teagan squeaked out.

"You have to listen to me, baby girl. You have to listen, this is very important." Lisa called out.

"Okay." Teagan breathed out, unable to say anything else.

"Teagan..." She heard her mother begin to say, then heard a loud noise coming from behind her.

Teagan snapped her head up, coming out of a sleep, and heard a horn blow out again, which was the noise she heard the first time that pulled her out of her sleep. She glanced in her rear view mirror, seeing a line of cars behind her with a bunch of pissed off drivers behind the wheels.

Her eyes flickered down to her lap seeing that her cell phone was in her hand, causing her to lower her eyebrows in confusion. Was she actually talking to her mother on the phone or was that all a dream?

Before she could think about it any more, her phone began to ring, causing her to jump in surprise. Scared of who might be on the other end, she tossed it into the back seat, then took a hard right and speed down the road.

She didn't slow down until she pulled up to the Beacon Hills Preserve sign and parked the car. She turned in her seat, looking in the back seat, staying far away from her phone and grabbed a pair of running shoes from the floor, then a t-shirt and shorts from the back seat, before turning back around to face the front.

She glanced around for a moment, making sure no one was around, then took her shirt off, pulling the loose fitted shirt over her head. She unbuttoned her pants, then lifted her hips up to remove them, leaving her in only a pair of silk panties until she slipped the shorts on. She traded out the boots she had on for the running shoes.

The last thing she did before exiting the car, was grab a wrist band, that had a small throwing dagger hidden inside it, just in case she needed a weapon. Once out of the car, she walked past the sign, making her way into the woods, then began to run.

She pushed herself as far as she could go, as her feet softly padded against the ground. Running had always been therapeutic for her, it was something she got from her mother. The two use to run a lot together before her death, and even after her death Teagan kept running. If she was sad or mad, she ran. If she was confused about something, she ran. No matter what her mood, she ran and it always helped, but this time... this time no matter how hard or how far she ran, it didn't do a damn thing.

She still felt the fear, the uncertainty, and the darkness all around her, just like she did every day since the sacrifice.

Teagan wasn't sure how long she had been running, but when she suddenly began to hear her mother's voice again, she skid to a stop, losing her footing and fell down to her knees. She glanced around, taking in her surrounding, trying to figure out where the voices were coming from as she tried to catch her breath.

When the voices turned to laughter, her mother's laughter, she placed her hands over her ears, trying to block it out as she yelled out to stop, begging whoever or whatever it was, to leave her alone.

When she heard the sound of crunching behind her, as someone walked up behind her, she pulled out the dagger from her wrist band, then quickly spun around as she threw it toward the person, doing what she was taught, react first and question later, but when she saw who the person was, she gasped and placed her hands over her mouth in surprise.

"Oh, my God!" Teagan called out, as she looked up at Jackson, who had luckily caught the dagger she threw at him.

"Jeez, T, since when did you start throwing around knives?" Jackson questioned, as he looked down at the dagger in his hand. "It's a pretty bad habit to have, you know? Especially if you're seeing things. If I would have been human, you could have killed me."

"It was an accident." Teagan mumbled, as she stood up from the ground, not liking being lectured. She grabbed the dagger from his hand, placing it back in her wrist band, then looked at him, as she added, "Obviously I didn't know it was you, I thought..."

"You thought what?" Jackson questioned when she paused. "Who did you think I was?" He added.

"No one." Teagan lied. When he shot her a look, she blew out a breath, as she threw out her arms and called out, "I don't know, okay? I don't know who I thought it was." She paused for a moment, a thought crossed her mind, causing her to shoot him a look, as she added, "What are you even doing here anyways? How did you know I would be here? I didn't even know I was going to be here until a little bit ago when I ended up here."

Before he could answer, she gasped, then questioned, "wait, did you follow me?"

"Well after the panic attack and nightmare at school, I thought it would be a good idea." Jackson pointed out.

"Wait, what?" Teagan questioned, as she ran a hand through her hair, feeling annoyed. "Oh, my God! You've been following me all day? Even at school?" She asked.

"I told you I'm here for you, T. So what else would I be doing with my day other than keep an eye on you?" Jackson said back.

"You cannot be keeping an eye on me. It's kinda creepy, Jackson." Teagan said, as she shot him a look. Her eyes widened as another thought hit her, then said, "whoa, wait, does that mean you were also watching me earlier when I was changing in the car?"

"Nothing I haven't seen before." Jackson answered with a smirk.

"Okay, that is really creepy, Jackson. That is like, a whole nother level of creepy." Teagan said, as she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Calm down, I was kidding." Jackson said with a laugh, then added,"I did not watch you change, once I realized what you were doing I turned my head. Is that better?"

"I don't know, is that the truth?" Teagan asked back, as she folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrows at him.

"I guess you'll just have to trust me." Jackson said back, a grin back on his face. "Once upon a time you did trust me." He pointed out.

"That was before you were going around stalking me and watching me change." Teagan said back.

"I told you, I wasn't watching." Jackson said with a laugh, as he held up his hands. When she nodded her head, accepting his answer, he added, "nice tattoo by the way."

"I knew it! You perv!" Teagan called out, as she punched him in the arm, causing him to laugh harder.

"Only for a second I swear!" Jackson said in between laughter.

"You are such an ass." Teagan said, not being able to stop herself from laughing along with him. She punched him a few more times, knowing there was no way she would be able to hurt him.

After getting a few more hits in, he finally grabbed her wrist, stopping her, as he said,"I see those hunter lessons are working for you."

"Yep, you better watch it, I could totally kick your werewolf ass now." Teagan joked, as she shot him playfully mean look.

"You know you can do whatever you want with my ass." Jackson joked back.

"Oh God." Teagan mumbled with an eye roll, as she turned around and began to walk away. She should be use to his flirty nature by now. He was always a flirt toward her, and them breaking up or her dating someone new would never change that, but she knew he would never cross that line. It was all done in fun, he knew she was happy and in love with Isaac and he respected that. He understood that they had a bond, and a part of them would always love each other, but all that they would ever be was friends. Sometimes it still surprised her how much he had grown up since moving to London.

Jackson chuckled at her reaction, as he shoved his hands in his front pants pockets and walked along behind her. The two made small talk as they made their way through the woods and back to where she had parked her car.

As they walked out of the woods, she saw an unfamiliar car parked beside hers, a silver convertible, she assumed was Jackson's.

"New car?" Teagan questioned as she glanced over at Jackson who was now walking beside her. "Did you finally trade in your precious Porsche?" She added.

"No, it's still in London. I will never trade in my baby." Jackson answered, then nodded towards the car they were now standing beside, "this is just a rental."

"Oh, it's nice." Teagan said, as she looked at the car. "Of course you would get a rental in silver though." She joked.

Jackson laughed at her comment, then held out the keys, as he suggested,"Wanna go for a ride?"

"Can I drive?" Teagan asked. As Jackson shook his head, she added, "Oh come on! I'm a great driver. Just ask Avery, I've driven her car plenty of times."

Jackson didn't say anything, just continued to shake his head, causing her to pout until he finally sighed and handed her the keys, causing her to do a little dance before opening the driver side door and sliding behind the wheel of the car.

After Jackson jumped in the passenger seat, Teagan cranked the car and pulled out on to the road, her hair whipping around in the wind as she speed down a back road. They drove around for a while, then stopped at a small gas station to fill up while Jackson ran inside to grab drinks. When they left there, Teagan drove back toward where her car was, parking the rental car beside hers like it was before.

She turned the car off then turned her head to look at Jackson, "Thanks for letting me drive. I think I kind of needed that."

Jackson nodded his head, then reached into the bag, as he said,"oh here is your drink."

Teagan smiled when she saw he got her a blue Gatorade. She didn't know why, but she always liked the blue ones the best after a run, but liked the purple ones after a night of drinking, and the fact that he remembered warmed her heart and made her realize how much she missed having him around.

"So how much longer are staying in town?" Teagan questioned, as she laid her head back against the seat after taking a long swig of Gatorade.

"Trying to get rid of me already?" Jackson asked back, as he looked over at her.

"No, the opposite actually." Teagan said, then added, "it's nice having you around, Jackson. You're one of my best friends, and I really do miss you."

"I miss you too, T." Jackson said, as he smiled at her. "But to answer your question, I don't know. It just depends on you." He added, as he turned his head to look out the windshield, watching the sun slowly begin to set.

"Jackson..." Teagan began to say with a sigh, then continued, "you don't have to stay here for me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, but don't put your life on hold for me. Besides I am fine. Why does no one believe me when I say that?"

"Probably cause they can hear your heart skipping just like I can." Jackson pointed out. "Plus I think you're forgetting that me, Avery and even Isaac knows you, T, and we know you are not okay. The question is though, why are you not telling them what is really going on?" He questioned, as he turned his head to look at her.

"I can't." Teagan whispered, tears filling her eyes.

"Why not?" Jackson asked, as he turned in his seat to look at her better.

"Cause even I don't know what is going on." Teagan admitted, as she looked straight ahead, avoiding the pity look she knew he was probably wearing on his face. The same one she saw on Isaac's face, and Avery's constantly.

Jackson reached out, taking her hands off of the steering wheel when he saw her squeezing it so hard her knuckles were turning white. He held them in his hands, as he softly said,"talk to me, T. What is going on?"

"It started out with me feeling like I wasn't alone. Like someone was standing behind me, but when I turned around no one was there." She softly admitted. She took a deep breath, then added,"I haven't told anyone that before. It just makes me sound crazy."

"You're not crazy, T." Jackson said, as he squeezed her hand, urging her to go on.

"Then the nightmares started." Teagan continued. She took a few deep breaths, trying not to freak out, reminding herself that the dreams weren't real. "We're back in the root cellar. Everything is falling and we're all trying so hard to keep the beam from falling on us, but-but we're not strong enough and I watch everyone die before my eyes." She reached out, wiping a tear from her cheek, then added, "I was having that nightmare nightly. It got so bad that Isaac and dad would sleep in my room so they could get to me once I started screaming and wake me up. But even after waking up it took awhile for me to realize that was just a dream and we all made it out okay. Sometimes it feels like it's not even me. Like I'm just watching someone else live my life, like I have no control at all."

"Trust me, I know what that is like." Jackson said, as he gave a bitter chuckle. Remembering what it was like when he was the Kanima and Matt forced him to kill people.

"I'm sorry." Teagan whispered, hating to bring up painful memories for him.

"It's okay." He whispered back, as he shook his head, trying not to think of that time. "That was definitely a hard time in my life, but things are slowly getting better. Believe it or not, I'm actually getting help. Someone that Deaton recommend that knows about all of this stuff and helped me come to terms with the things I did." He looked over at her, as he continued, "We have all got our demons, T. We all have things that wake us up screaming at night, but you can't do this alone. You need to let Isaac help you, he's your anchor, he'll pull you back."

"I can't." Teagan choked out. "I can't tell him the truth." She added.

"Why not? What is the truth?" Jackson questioned.

"Things have gotten worse." Teagan fearfully said. She felt tears fall down her face, as she cried, "I don't know what's real anymore, Jackson. I don't know what's real at all."

**~()~**

Isaac pulled the door shut behind him as he walked into Avery's house and immediately headed up the stairs and into her empty room.

He sighed and started to head back down stairs until he heard a glass clinking noise from the bathroom followed by Avery cursing under her breath as she dropped her eye shadow container into the sink and it broke on impact.

"Avery." Isaac said as he knocked on the door.

"Isaac?" She called surprised.

He could hear her high heel shoes clicking on the tile floor as she neared the door and pulled it open.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned, breezing past him as she went to her desk and opened her purse to take her fake ID and a credit card out for the night.

Hanging his head and sighing he admitted, "I'm worried about Teagan…"

Avery tilted her head back and stared up to the ceiling, she was also worried about her best friend. But she couldn't take one more second of being the person everyone came to for advice.

By some miracle she'd managed to make it through the day again, and now she just needed an escape, something to take her mind off of her problems, which is why she was headed out to a bar that night.

When she stayed silent Isaac continued, "I thought the nightmares were getting better but apparently things are getting worse, and on top of that she's pushing me away."

Walking over to her body length mirror she scrunched her wavy hair to give it even more body as he continued to ramble on about his problems and about how he couldn't be there for her if she wouldn't let him, by the time he was done explaining she'd heard Jackson's name a few times too.

"Isaac, Isaac, Isaac." Avery sighed shaking her head back and forth and looking at her friend.

"Yeah?" He asked, expecting her to give him some advice like she always did, offer up some helpful advice and calm his nerves.

Before she could say anything he nodded seeing the almost annoyed expression on her face, "I know what you're going to say… I just need to go talk to her, get her to be honest with me. That I should be telling her all of this and not you."

"Actually I was going to ask if we could maybe do this later?" She admitted as she applied another coat of her red tinted lip-gloss, before tucking the cards and her phone into a small wristlet clutch.

"What?" He gasped, not able to hide his surprise.

"Oh god, that sounded bad." She mumbled shaking her head as she rubbed her forehead and said, "From the time I wake up in the morning, I'm there for everyone. Trying to help Scott keep in control, trying to be there for Teagan… jumping up when the teacher asks for a volunteer so they don't pick Stiles. I can only do so much in one day, I can't wave a magic wand and fix things. But I'm going to have start setting some boundaries here… like, after 7pm, it's Avery time."

With raised eyebrows he repeated back, "Avery time…"

Nodding she flashed him a smile as she said, "Come on, Isaac… you need to loosen up some! Come out with me tonight, have some fun."

"Are you feeling okay?" He questioned as she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door.

"I will be." She mumbled, thinking all she needed was a few drinks, a little dancing and just to let loose. Then she'd feel okay again, enough so to give her the strength to make it through the next day. Plus, bringing Isaac with her would hopefully keep her from ending up with another regrettable one nightstand.

Normally Isaac would have turned the offer down, but now he was really starting to worry about his blonde friend. He knew she always seemed to put everyone's problems ahead of her own, so wanting a night off was understandable. But he also knew when it came to Teagan, Avery would drop everything to help her, and that night she wouldn't even listen to Isaac trying to explain how bad off he thought Teagan was.

As Avery got into her car she explained, "Now, I'm driving us instead of calling for a car because I'm not going to get drunk. Don't let me have more than a few drinks, okay?"

Isaac pulled his seatbelt on and looked around the inside of the car a little uncomfortable with the entire idea of going out to a bar or club with his girlfriend sitting at home struggling with problems he couldn't understand. But the way Avery was acting was starting to scare him, and even if he couldn't help Teagan at the current moment, he could at least keep an eye on Avery.

It was dark by the time she pulled into the torn up pavement of a shady looking bar.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" He asked, looking around surprised.

As they got out of the car she questioned, "What were you expecting, Lahey? Red velvet ropes, couture, and a bottle of Rosay?"

"A bottle of what…"

Tilting her head back and laughing loudly she linked her arm with his and led him past a row of motorcycles parked not too far from the door.

As they walked in he looked around, the place even had a dangerous feel to the air, a couple of broke tables were pushed against a far wall he was pretty sure he saw some blood on the side of one.

"Maybe we should go…" He said as he noticed the eyes of all the male bar patrons were now on Avery, who ate up the attention as she winked at one of the guys playing pool.

Sitting down at the bar she flashed the bartender a smile and said, "Please get my mopey friend here a drink, and make it strong… very strong."

"ID?" He responded looking between the teenagers.

"Of course." Avery said with a flirty smile as she leaned forward some over the bar and opened her small wrist purse, displaying the card.

His eyes lingered more on her than on the plastic card as he nodded in approval and asked, "What about him?"

"Oh, well…" Avery laughed, "You see me friend here left his ID at home… but I don't think that should be a problem…"

Isaac watched as Avery slid the bartender a hundred dollar bill which he took and nodded before pouring them both a drink.

As the bartender walked away to check on another patron, Isaac took a drink and sighed, "You know I can't get drunk, right?"

"Yes you can." Avery said as she drank her glass down in one swallow.

"No, Scott said…" He started to argue but she cut him off as she pulled a small bag of powder from her wristlet purse.

"With this…" She said as she opened the small bag and poured it into his glass, "Anyone can get drunk."

"What the hell is that?" He asked as he looked down to see she was moving his glass, making the powder absorb into the liquid.

"Don't worry about it… just drink!" She ordered pushing the glass into his hands.

When he was hesitant she arched a brow and said, "Come on, don't you trust me?"

"Normally…" He responded, before putting the glass to his lips and drinking it all, then with a small laugh he said, "But I think you're just trying to drug me."

"You caught me." She laughed as she waved her hand towards the bartender, demanding he keep their drinks flowing.

Several shots later Isaac blinked and looked around with a stunned expression as he admitted, "I… I think you're right, I'm getting drunk. What did you put in my drink?"

"It's just a little something that makes the alcohol hit you so much faster than normal, I figured for someone like you… it would make getting drunk possible." She admitted with a shrug, then cracked a smile as she continued, "Guess I was right."

"Wait…" Isaac breathed as he sat his now empty shot glass down and saw Avery throwing back another one, he asked, "Do you use this… to get drunk faster?"

"Don't worry about it." She said as she slid him another shot glass and said, "I'm totally kicking you're ass at our drinking contest here."

He blinked his eyes a few times seeing all of the empty glasses next to her and a few less next to him as he mumbled some comment about how he didn't know they were in a contest before finishing another drink.

It was over an hour later that Isaac finished off another drink, he'd lost count of how many glasses he'd finished off.

As he saw another being slid his way he shook his head, "No, just a beer this time… I don't want to get too drunk." The bartender lowered his head and let out a laugh at the teenagers already slurred speech.

Picking up the bottle of beer Isaac continued the one sided conversation he'd been having with a female college student who'd approached him a while ago.

Taking a long sip from the neck of the bottle he continued, "I just… I just want to help her and I don't know how to do that."

The girl breathed a heavy sigh as she turned and said, "So let me get this straight? I'm here… trying to flirt with you and you're worried about your girlfriend having nightmares?"

His mouth hung open as he breathed out, "Oh –oh my god, you're right…"

"That's better…" she purred as she laid a hand on Isaac's knee and leaned in to mention they should get out of there but he caught her off guard.

"My girl friend is falling apart… and I'm here, at a bar with her best friend. What's wrong with me?"

Mumbling under her breath about how the only thing worse than an angry drunk was a sad drunk.

Standing up he stumbled a little before making his way through the now heavily crowded bar where Avery was dancing in the middle of a few guys, drinking from a bottle of liquor she'd taken from the bar.

"Isaac! Isaac!" She shouted waving him over to her.

Once he was next to her she tossed her arms up in the air and shouted, "Woo! I haven't heard this song in forever, dance with me!"

Isaac watched as she continued to drink and dance, like she was having the time of her life and he didn't understand how she could be acting like that with everything else that was going on.

When he didn't dance or even crack a smile she pushed the bottle into his hand and said, "If you drink enough… everything will feel better."

He looked at the bottle and considered all the alcohol in the world might not be able to make him feel better, but Avery egged him on as she cheered loudly, "Drink! Drink! Drink!"

Once everyone else in the immediate area joined in on her chanting, he finally raised the bottle to lips and finished it off.

Avery smiled ear to ear as she jumped and cheered for him, taking the empty bottle she tossed it to the side where it broke on the old wooden floor and everyone cheered again.

Avery grabbed his arms and begged, "Come on, dance with me!"

He stayed silent and watched as she continued to dance around, trying to get him to loosen up but he couldn't.

"Damn it, Lahey! Move your ass!" She shouted, as she pushed him so hard he almost toppled over, but didn't fall as he fell against a guy who shoved him back against Avery who groaned and shouted something about how Isaac would kick all their asses, before grabbing his hand and pulling him back to the bar.

As he finished off the beer he'd been working on and then motioned for the bartender to bring him something stronger Avery yelled for them to crank the music and climbed up onto the bar, dancing as everyone in the room cheered her on.

Isaac took a drink and winced as the cheap, strong alcohol burnt his throat on the way down and he looked up to where Avery was still dancing, swinging her hips with the music and feeding off being the center of attention. And he thought to himself that for the first time in a while she seemed to be having fun, and he realized maybe she was right, maybe they both did just need to cut loose for a night. All of his problems would still be there in the morning; with that thought he finished his drink.

But a few hours later it became clear that no amount of drinking was going to make him feel any better. While Avery's laughs and cheers grew louder with every round of drinks she bought for everyone under the roof, his problems were still weighing heavily on his mind.

Finding Avery dancing out in the group of people again he pulled her to the side and said, "We should go… I need to tell her, I need to tell Teagan…" His voice trailed off.

"Tell her what? Tell me, I wanna know first!" Avery yelled, excitedly as if whatever news he had was going to be good news.

With a laugh at her expression he admitted, "I can't remember."

Seeing the goofy grin on his face she happily jumped and exclaimed, "There it is! There's that smile… see I told you –you just need to loosen up." Then with a loud laugh she punched his arm and said, "And now look, you're loose, Isaac… you're really loose!"

Grabbing onto the pool table they were next to –to steady himself he laughed at her words and pointed out, "I think you had more than a few drinks."

Her light brown eyes widened as her jaw dropped, "Oops." She snorted out, throwing her head back laughing as she scrambled to pull her phone from her purse to call someone to come get them.

**~()~**

After leaving the woods, Jackson went to grab them some food, while she went home to shower and change into a pair of lounge pants and a shirt she stole from Isaac. She was pulling up her hair in a messy bun, while walking down the stairs with Aspen behind her, when she heard the door bell ring.

Aspen barked and followed her as she opened the door for Jackson. The white dog growled for a moment until Jackson flashed his blue eyes at him, causing him to whine as he hid behind Teagan.

"Was that really necessary?" Teagan questioned, as she shot Jackson a look and folded her arms across her chest.

"What? He started it." Jackson answered with a laugh.

Teagan shook her head at his answer, a light chuckle escaped from her lips. She reached down to pet the scared dog, then stepped aside so Jackson could enter the house.

"I brought your favorite though, forgive me?" Jackson asked, as he held up a bag from her favorite Chinese place.

"Oh! Yes!" Teagan cheered out, as she took the bag from his hand. "You are so forgiven." She added, as she began to walk into the kitchen to grab drinks and utensils.

"I wasn't sure if your dad was home so I got extra just in case." Jackson announced, as he followed her into the kitchen.

"No, he's at work." Teagan said, as she began to take the food out of the bag. "I'll eat his." She added, as she bit into an egg roll.

As she turned around to face him, she saw him looking at her with raised eyebrows. She swallowed the food, then asked, "What?"

"Did you and Lahey get married or something and not tell me?" Jackson questioned.

"No. Why?" Teagan said, confused as to why he would ask that.

"Well you're pigging out, you look like crap.." He began to explain, as he pointed to the loose fitted clothes she was wearing.

"Hey! Hurtful!" Teagan called out.

"I'm just saying, it's like you let yourself go and I thought that only happened when someone got married." Jackson joked.

"You're a dick, you know that, right?" Teagan joked back.

"Well one good thing came out of this..." He began to say, as he gestured towards her clothes again. "I'm officially over you now." He added with a laugh, which only got louder when she punched him in the stomach.

"Just for that, I'm taking your egg roll too." Teagan said, as she stuck her tongue out at him.

After letting Aspen out in the fenced in back yard, the two gathered up the food and drinks, then made their way in to the living room. They spent about ten minutes trying to figure out what movie to watch. Jackson refused to watch a romantic comedy, and Teagan refused to watch an action movie. Once they finally made up their minds on something, they sat back to eat as they watched the movie.

Jackson noticed her checking her cell phone ever few minutes or so, like she was waiting for a phone call or text message.

"Everything okay?" Jackson questioned, when she checked her phone again.

"Hmm?" Teagan questioned, as she quickly looked up from her phone. She sat it aside before adding with a sigh, "Yeah, everything is good."

"If you keep lying to me I'm going to take your egg rolls away." Jackson warned, as he glanced over at her again. "Waiting to hear from Isaac?" He guessed.

"Maybe." Teagan mumbled, as she sat her food down on the coffee table, losing her appetite at the mention of her boyfriend. She tucked her legs underneath herself as she thought of their argument earlier. She was wrong for snapping at him, and she knew it, she hated the way the nightmares and hallucinations made her feel. She hated fighting with him and just wanted to make things right, but after sending him a few text messages apologizing, she still hadn't heard back from him.

"Don't worry, T. You two will make up." Jackson said, trying to ease her fears. "As much as I hate to admit it, he's crazy about you. He's not going to walk away cause you two argued. He knows things are bad for you right now and he just wants to help." He added.

"How did you know we argued?" Teagan asked confused, then added before he could speak, "oh right, I forgot you've been stalking me all day."

"I call it keeping an eye on a good friend." Jackson argued.

"Well the law calls it stalking and I agree with the law." Teagan joked.

"I get no love around here." Jackson joked back, as he shook his head.

Teagan laughed as she laid a hand on his shoulder, giving it a small squeeze, as she began to say, "you know I love you Jackson..."

"But?" He questioned, knowing she had more to say.

"But you really do need to stop being so creepy. Get a hobby or something, a hobby that is not stalking girls." Teagan said with a laugh.

"I don't stalk girls, T." Jackson said laughing. "Did you forget who I am? I can get a girl like that." He added, as he snapped his fingers to get his point across.

"Uh-huh." Teagan said, as she shot him a look, then asked, "And how many dates have you been on since moving to London?"

"I haven't found the right girl in London." Jackson pointed out, as he sat his food down, avoiding her eyes. In his opinion, the right girl was beside him, but he knew that would never happen again.

"The right girl is out there for you, Jackson." Teagan said, as she shot him a smile.

"I know." Jackson softly said, as he finally looked over at her.

Teagan opened her mouth to say something back, but before she could, they heard a phone ringing, causing her to dive toward her phone hoping it was Isaac calling her. She softly sighed when she realized it wasn't a call coming to her phone, but to Jackson's phone.

Jackson, looking at the caller id, lowered his eyebrows in concern when he saw who was calling him, having a flash of déjà vu from a few years ago when she used to call him often for help to get home.

"Jackals!" Avery yelled out, when he answered the call.

He softly sighed, he could tell from the tone of her voice that she was drunk and from the loud music over the phone, he knew she was in a bar somewhere in town. After Teagan moved away he got calls like this nightly, but after she moved back to town, he honestly never thought he would get a call like this from her again. He thought 'that Avery' was gone now that her best friend was back.

"Where are you Avery?" Jackson asked, causing Teagan to shoot him a look. She was confused as to why Avery would be calling him now.

"I'm- I'm... shit, where am I?" Avery asked out, before laughing along with someone. "Oh, I'm at a bar! Oh my God, Jackson, this bar is awesome." She called out.

"I already figured that one out, A. Which one are you at?" Jackson asked.

"Oh shit! I love this song." Avery called out, as a new song began to play. "Dude we have to dance." He heard her saying to whoever she was with. When he heard the person she was with speak up, telling her he didn't want to dance he just wanted to drink, Jackson raised his eyebrows in surprise as he recognized whose voice it was. He glanced over at Teagan for a moment, wondering if he should tell her who was at the bar with Avery.

"Damn it, Isaac, you are no fun!" Avery said over to her party partner. She turned her attention back to the phone, as she said, "Jackson, you should come party with us! You need to loosen up too."

"I'm good." Jackson said, then added, "but how about I come get you. I think you have had enough."

"We have not had enough. We are going to close the bar!" Avery cheered out. "Who wants a drink?" She yelled out to the room, causing everyone to cheer out with her.

"Avery!" Jackson yelled out, trying to get her attention. "What bar are you at?" He asked again, as he stood up from the couch.

"The bestest bar in town." Avery said, causing the crowd to cheer again, before adding, "The Silver Foxy. I love that word. Foxxxy. Foxy."

"Shit." Jackson swore. Everyone in town knew that bar, it was on the outskirts of town, in the bad part of town, where the rough crowd hung out. He couldn't believe Avery would go there. Out of all the bars and clubs in town, why did she have to pick the worst.

"Avery, hey, A, listen to me, okay?" Jackson began to say, trying to get her attention and stop her from singing along to a song playing in the background. "Avery, get outside, okay? I'm on my way to get you." He added.

"Jackals is coming to party!" Avery called out. She turned her attention to the crowd, as she called out, "Hey, everyone, my friend is coming to party with us. Let's show him a good time."

Jackson rolled his eyes and tried to control his anger, when he heard everyone cheering out. "Avery, outside, now!" He called out, as he ended the call and began to walk toward the door.

"Hey, what is going on?" Teagan called out, as she jumped up from the couch and followed him to the door.

"Avery is at the Silver Foxy." Jackson answered.

"What? Why would she go there?" Teagan asked with wide eyes. She knew Avery liked to go to bars and clubs sometimes, but no one in their right mind would go to that bar. It was far from being her type of bar scene. "She usually goes to tamer clubs to dance and have a good time." She added.

"After you came home, yeah, but when you were gone, T, she was a completely different person." Jackson pointed out. "She would go to a different bar, open a tab and not leave until she practically drank out the bar. Then she'll start all over again. You wouldn't believe the times she called me and I'd have to go get her. Either from the bar or some random place cause she left with someone and couldn't remember how to get back."

"No one ever told me it got that bad." Teagan said, as she folded her arms across her chest, then added, "I knew right before I left she started partying and hooking up, but I never thought it got worse than that."

"It did, it got a lot worse, and it's happening again." Jackson said with a worried look.

"Well I'm coming with you." Teagan said, as she turned around to head for the stairs, planning to run to her room to change clothes.

"T, you should stay here." Jackson said, as he grabbed her arm to stop her. He knew she shouldn't see her best friend like that. After finding out where she was, he had completely forgot Isaac was there too. All he could think about was getting Avery out of there before something bad happened.

"I'm coming with you." Teagan stated, not backing down.

"Fine." Jackson said with a sigh, knowing she was too stubborn to stay behind. "Hurry up." He added, as he nodded his head toward the stairs.

Teagan ran to her room and quickly changed out of the lounge pants she had on into a pair of blue jeans. She left Isaac's shirt on then slipped into a pair of shoes before making her way back downstairs to meet up with Jackson.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Hope you liked the chapter, thank you all for reading. ^_^**

**I know this story is just starting out so there's just a few of you, but I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who has added this story to your favorites and/or subscribed fro update alerts! And of course an extra special thank you to everyone who has been reviewing. We're so excited to be sharing the 3rd installment of our Blue Moon Series with you! ****How are you all liking the story so far?**


	4. This Is Not Goodbye

**Chapter 4 - This Is Not Goodbye**

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><p>After letting Aspen back in the house, Jackson and Teagan walked out of the front door and headed for the car. Teagan was silent as Jackson drove down the road. She knew Avery was always a bit of a party girl before they got pulled into the werewolf world, even after she would still go with Danny sometimes to a club just to have fun. She never knew about this side of Avery though, making her realize that maybe she didn't know her best friend as well as she thought.<p>

Hearing her sigh, Jackson glanced over at her as he asked if she was okay.

"I just... I never knew. I never knew this side of Avery." Teagan said, then added, "While I was gone we would talk or write each other, she would tell me all about these crazy adventures she went on or her latest sex-capades, but I never knew it was this bad."

"Most people didn't know." Jackson said. As he turned down the road the bar was on, he added, "She could spiral out of control one day, then the next day be back to old Avery and never say a word about it. Anytime me, Lydia or Danny would try to bring it up, she would brush it off as if she was just having fun and it got out of control. She would never admit she was the one out of control."

"I guess I can kind of understand why no one told me while I was gone. It's not like you and I kept in touch, and Lydia only called once in a blue moon, but why didn't anyone tell me how bad she got when I moved back?" Teagan questioned.

"She was better once you moved back." Jackson answered, then added, "Besides you just lost your mom, then everything else happened. Between all the werewolves, hunters, close calls and near deaths, I guess it just slipped our minds. Plus, like I said, she was better."

"Until now. Until the sacrifices." Teagan softly said.

"I don't know if meeting up with you in the white room did something to her too or if it was the stuff with her mom, but Avery is not okay." Jackson stated with a worried look on his face. "Something has set her off, I just don't know what." He added.

Teagan quietly nodded, agreeing with him, then looked down at her hands which were resting in her lap. She was so worried about her own stuff, she hadn't really kept a close eye on Avery to see how she was dealing with everything.

"Damn it." Jackson quietly swore as he came up to the bar, causing Teagan to snap her head up.

She lowered her eyebrows in concern when she saw Avery standing outside in the middle of the parking lot surrounded by a group of guys as if she was the life of the party.

"When I told her to get outside I meant alone, not bring the damn party outside." Jackson angrily said, as he pulled into the parking lot and shut the car off.

"Avery." Teagan called out, as she threw the door open and stepped out.

"Teagan!" Avery yelled happily at seeing her best friend. She looked at the guys standing around her as she added, "Hey guys, this is my best friend Teagan." When Teagan stopped to stand beside her, Avery threw an arm around her shoulders as she began to say, "Isn't she beautiful? Isn't she? But none of you better touch her. I mean it, don't touch her. She has a very serious boyfriend, who is-who is right over..." Avery began to glance around the parking lot, then gasped when she saw Isaac standing near the edge of the building leaning against it, as he drank from a bottle of liquor. She pointed at him as she continued, "there! There is her boyfriend and he will kick your ass. All your asses."

Teagan followed her finger, then felt her eyes widen when she saw Isaac. No wonder she never heard back from him, he was with Avery at a bar, getting drunk from the looks of it.

She glanced over her shoulder, calling out for Jackson, then passed Avery over to him as she rushed over to Isaac. When she called out his name, he looked up, his eyes lighting up when he saw her.

"Hey!" Isaac said with a goofy grin on his face.

"What are you doing?" Teagan questioned as she shook her head taking in his appearance. She couldn't even imagine how much he had to drink in order to get as drunk as he was now. She couldn't help but wonder if he and Avery drank every last drop the bar, never knowing it was something Avery put in their drinks to make them get drunk faster.

Isaac looked down at the bottle in his hand, then looked back up at her, as he stated, "Getting drunk."

"I see that, but why?" Teagan asked.

"Cause I... Avery said-" He began to say, as he pointed over to the blonde, who was still dancing and singing with the other guys despite Jackson trying to pull her away from them. He looked back at Teagan, as he continued, "She said I need to loosen up and she's right!" He threw out his arms at the end to get his point across, dropping the bottle from his hand. He lowered his arms as he walked closer to her, then placed his hands on either side of her face, as he said, "I mean here you are, you're-you're going through something and going out of your freaking mind and I can't help you! I don't know how to fix you, Teagan. I'm trying to be supportive and trying to love you, and hoping like hell that will be enough to bring you back to me, but it's not. It's not enough, it just- it's not enough and I don't know what to do!"

Teagan felt tears fill her eyes at his words. She didn't want to be damaged, she didn't want to be broken, but didn't know how to be normal again, and to hear him talk, it seemed like she was nothing but a burden to him. It made her feel like he was done with her, that he was done trying to fix her and was giving up, and that thought killed her. She didn't know if she could make it without him, but she wasn't going to beg him to stay with her. If he was really done with her, there was nothing she could do.

"Let's get you out of here." Teagan softly said, trying hold it together and not break down in front of everyone. She lightly grabbed his arm, then aimed him toward the car. She slowly walked behind him, her arms folded across her chest.

Jackson, seeing the look on her face, as she walked past him, asked if she was okay. She didn't answer, instead she shook her head, as she continued to follow along behind a stumbling Isaac.

"Come on." Jackson said, as he lightly grabbed Avery's arm, finally pulling her away from the crowd to head for the car.

"Hey, man, the party isn't over yet." A man yelled out, as he grabbed Avery's other arm, stopping Jackson from leading her away.

"Yeah, you can't just show up and steal all the fine bitches, Richie Rich." Another man called out to Jackson.

Hearing the comments, Teagan turned around, seeing Jackson's claws slide out. She looked back at Isaac, seeing him leaning against Avery's car; since he was out of harms way, she rushed over to Jackson, softly saying his name, hoping to help calm him down.

She breathed a sigh of relief, when she saw his claws go away. He looked over at the group of guys, as he shook his head, then said, "Trust me, you don't want to do this."

"Maybe we do." One of the first guy's said, as he took a step toward Jackson.

"Back off." Teagan warned, as she stepped in front of Jackson. She wasn't in the mood to deal with a bunch of drunks right now. "Come on, Avery." She added, as she took her best friend's arm, and pulled her towards her.

"Whoa, kitty's got claws." The guy said, as he eyed Teagan and bit his lip. Imagining the things he would like to do with her.

"She don't, but I do." Isaac said, as he walked up beside Teagan, his claws out.

"Told you he would kick your ass!" Avery called to the group of guys.

"Isaac, no!" Teagan called out, as she turned around to face him, pushing him backwards before he and the guy began to fight.

"What the hell?" The guy mumbled, as he pulled a knife out. He couldn't tell what was in Isaac's hand, but either way he was prepared for anything.

"Teagan, watch out!" Avery called out to her best friend, seeing a weapon sobering her up quick. She stepped in front of Teagan, ready to take on the guy if he came after her best friend, but before she could do anything, Jackson threw a punch, knocking the guy back.

That was all it took for a fight to break out between them all. Avery grinned as she punched a guy in the nose, this wasn't what she had planned, but this was just the type of thing to help her relieve some built up stress.

Teagan threw up her arms to block a punch coming toward her, then raised her arm to hit back, but before she could, Isaac pushed her out of the way then turned to face the guy with a growl.

"Isaac, don't!" Teagan yelled, worried he might actually hurt someone or wolf out in front of everyone.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him back, pushing back toward the car, trying to keep him away from all the fighting. When she felt someone slap her butt, she spun around throwing a punch and hitting the guy in his eye.

"You crazy bitch!" The guy called out, as he grabbed her arm.

Teagan grinned, realizing where he grabbed her was the perfect way to do a defensive move that Allison taught her. She latched on to his arm, then turned around, putting her back toward him and threw her head back, hitting him in the nose, then she bent forward to toss him over her shoulder. She twisted his arm around, then laid a foot against his throat, as she said, "Don't ever touch me again."

Avery, seeing her best friend kicking ass, laughed out loud, then punched the guy in front of her twice, before kicking him at his knee, forcing him to fall to the ground.

"Damn." Jackson mumbled, as he watched both girls taking two guys down and forcing the others to back off, no one wanted to mess with them now. He reached out to grab Avery, who was the closest to him, then said, "Come on, let's go."

Jackson led her toward his car, then held out his hand, wanting her keys. Knowing she shouldn't drink and drive, she handed over the keys without arguing, she figured he would give them to Teagan who she trusted with her car. He helped her into his car, then walked over to Teagan, who was getting Isaac into Avery's car.

Jackson handed Teagan the keys, then asked, "Where are you taking him?"

"I don't know." Teagan said. She pulled out her phone, looking at the time, then continued, "It's too late to take him to Scott's." She ran a hand through her hair with a sigh, between all the drama with Isaac and the fight with the drunks she was now exhausted and just wanted to sleep. "I guess we'll just go to Avery's and we all crash there."

"Okay. Meet you there." Jackson said, with a nod, as he turned and walked back to his car.

Teagan glanced inside the car, seeing Isaac leaning against the passenger side door, with his head in his hands. She couldn't tell if he had passed out or was just regretting his decisions.

With a sigh, she opened the driver side door and slid behind the wheel. When he didn't move, she assumed her first guess was right, he had passed out. She shook her head, then stuck the key in the ignition, cranking the car up and pulling out of the parking lot.

Teagan drove silently down the road, glancing over at him every so often, with a worried expression on her face. His words from earlier echoing in her head, causing her eyes to tear up before she quickly looked back at the road.

Hearing her heart rate pick up, Isaac laid his head back against the seat with a sigh, knowing he had screwed up big this time. He didn't know why he said the things he did earlier, he knew the way it sounded and could only imagine the thoughts racing through her head. He knew it sounded like he was giving up and walking away from her, but he would never do that, and he hated himself for making her think that for one second.

"Teagan..."

"We're almost there." She interrupted, not in the mood for a round two. She was barely hanging on after his speech earlier.

"Teagan..." He tried again, as he sat up and turned in his seat to look at her better.

"Isaac, please..." She began to say, as she glanced over at him, pleading with him. She turned back to look at the road, as she added, "Please, not right now."

Isaac turned his head, looking out in front of them, and saw her pull onto Avery's street. He knew he was running out of time to fix this. He had a feeling once the car stopped she would leave, not giving him any more chances to explain.

"Baby... please... just listen." Isaac pleaded as he looked at her then looked forward, seeing Avery's house coming into view.

"Don't." Teagan whispered, as she parked the car in the driveway.

When Isaac saw her reach for the door handle, he panicked, knowing this was it, he had to make her listen or he could lose her. He quickly got out of the car, racing around to the driver side, almost tripping on his feet. His head was still spinning some from all the drinking he did earlier.

"Baby, please, just please wait." Isaac said as he came up behind her and gently laying his hands on her hips with her back to him to keep her from walking away from him.

Teagan didn't say anything, instead she watched Jackson carrying Avery inside the house. When he caught her eye, he shot her a look as if asking if she was okay. She gave him a short nod, then watched him walk inside the house with her best friend.

Isaac stepped closer to her, resting his forehead against the back of her head, as he took several deep breaths, trying to keep his emotions under control and keep it together to make things right between them again.

"I know how it sounded, what I said earlier..."

"I know what it sounded like too." Teagan softly said, not turning around. She sniffed, then added, "You're giving up on me."

Isaac shook his head, and opened his mouth to disagree, but before he could say a word, she turned around and looked at him with tears falling down her face, as she added, "And that's okay."

"I mean, it's not okay..." She continued with sigh, then added, "But I understand. I know I'm not myself anymore, I'm not that girl you fell in love with."

"No, babe, that's not-"

"And that's okay too, it really is, Isaac." Teagan interrupted, trying to be strong. "I know we always said we would never walk away from each other, but we never imagined something like this when we said it. So if you want to walk-"

"Hey, no, hey, look at me." Isaac said, as he stepped closer to her. He laid his hands on either side of her face, feeling the moisture on her skin. He carefully wiped the tears from under her eyes with his thumbs, then continued, "Teagan I swear to you, I am in this, for better or for worse, I'm not leaving you. Do you hear me? I will never leave you. I'm never walking away."

Teagan felt a fresh wave of tears hit at his words, she nodded her head as she whimpered out,"Good, cause I don't want to do this alone. I can't do it, Isaac. Not without you. I can't do it without you."

Isaac wrapped his arm around her, pulling her toward him, then wrapped his other arm around her, holding her tightly against him. He rested his hand on the back of her head, as he whispered in her ear, "You'll never have to do without me. I'm here baby, I'm right here. Please let me in, okay? Let me help you."

"Okay." Teagan cried, as she tightened her arms around his middle and buried her head in his shirt.

"I'm sorry, baby, I'm so sorry." Isaac whispered, as he dropped his head, rested his forehead on her shoulder. "Please stay with me, okay? Tonight, I mean, cause I don't want to let you go tonight."

"I'm not going anywhere." Teagan whispered back, as she ran her fingers through his hair, lightly running her finger nails across his scalp.

As her hand dipped down to his neck, her nails lightly scratching across the back of his neck and toward his ear, hitting the spot that always turned him on, causing him to groan out in pleasure.

He raised his head to look at her for a second before pressing his lips against hers for a heated kiss. Between all the fighting and her pulling away, he had missed this. He missed touching her and kissing her, not to mention with all the alcohol he had, he was feeling pretty frisky right now.

He ran his hands down her back, laying them on her butt, giving it a squeeze before he lifted her up. She let out of squeal of surprise, then wrapped her legs around his waist, as the two continued to kiss.

He grabbed at the bottom of her shirt, hating that it was in the way, then pulled back to glance down at it, seeing what shirt she had on for the first time. He smirked at seeing it was his shirt covering her body.

"Hey, you're wearing me." Isaac said, as he raised his head to look at her.

Teagan threw her head back, laughing out loud at this comment, then she laid her hands on either side of his neck, her nails lightly scratching his skin again.

Realizing what he said, Isaac shook his head, laughing with her, then said, "I meant, you're wearing my shirt." He raised his eyebrows and grinned as he said,"Although you can wear me. I'm okay with that."

"Just say when." Teagan said, as she flashed him a flirty smile. Like him, with everything going on lately, she had missed moments like this with him; the teasing, the laughter, the love between them.

He leaned toward her, taking her bottom lip between his teeth for a moment, teasing her, then released it to mutter out, "When."

Teagan grinned before pressing her lips against his, kissing him with everything she had, feeling all the stress she had felt lately leaving her body. Isaac spun them around, then took a step toward the car, propping her against the car to help hold her up so he could run his hands all over her body.

As she kissed across his jaw and began to nibble on his ear, he groaned and rubbed up against her, causing her to softly gasp at feeling how turned on he was.

He grabbed at the bottom of her shirt again, raising it up this time to remove it, seeing she had a thin tank top on underneath. He ran his hand across her left shoulder, removing the strap, then leaned down to leave light kisses across her bare shoulder.

Teagan threw her head back, a moan escaping her lips. Isaac kissed across her shoulder, attaching his lips to the side of her neck, lightly sucking on her skin.

Things were quickly heating up between the two, and for a moment they both forgot they were outside, in Avery's driveway making-out against her car, until they saw the porch light flicking on and off, followed by a very drunk Avery yelling out, "Wooo! Get it, girl!"

Teagan lowered her head, hiding it against Isaac's neck as the two began to laugh. They weren't usually the type to do it in a very public place, but the two had simply got carried away.

Isaac gave her butt one more squeeze, wishing they didn't have to stop, then helped set her feet back on the ground. She grabbed the shirt she was wearing from the hood of the car, then slipped it back on before reaching behind her to grab Isaac's hand. The two walked hand and hand up the porch steps, where a giggling Avery was waiting for them.

"You two didn't have to stop, I was enjoying the show. Free porn!" Avery cheered out, as she threw her arms in the air.

"Oh, my God, get in the house." Teagan said, as she pulled her hand away from Isaac's, to lay her hands on Avery's shoulders, turning her around and pushing her toward the door.

"There you are." Jackson said, as the three walked into the house. He looked over at Avery as he said, "I went to the bathroom for a second and you disappear."

"Jeez, Jackals, it's not like I'm a kid and I'm going to go play in traffic or something." Avery pointed out, as she began to walk toward the kitchen backwards. She pointed to Isaac and Teagan, as she added, "I just wanted to watch my girl get laid finally. Lord knows she needs it."

"Oh, my God." Teagan breathed out, as she turned to bury her head in Isaac's shirt, feeling her face heat up in embarrassment.

They heard Avery laughing out loud, as she turned around to enter the kitchen, leaving the other three alone in an uncomfortable silence. As much as Jackson was happy to see Teagan happy, he didn't want to hear about her getting lucky.

A few minutes later, Avery walked back over to the small group holding four glasses half full with clear liquid in her hands, two in one and two in the other. She handed one glass to Jackson, then the other two to Teagan and Isaac.

"Here we go. I figured you all would be thirsty." Avery explained before bringing her glass up to her lips to take a sip.

"Thank, A. Is this water?" Teagan questioned, as she took a big swallow then began to gag once she realized what it was. "Not water." She choked out, before she began to cough.

"Nope, vodka. The good kind." Avery said with a smile, as she turned her glass up, drinking it all. She reached out to grab Jackson's glass, planning to drink his too, until he took it back, and said, "Don't you think you've had enough tonight, A?"

"Ugh, Jackals, don't be a buzz kill." Avery groaned, as she threw her head back dramatically. "This is the after party." She announced, as she walked past the group to go into the living room.

Not caring what the time was, she turned on some music, turning it up loud and began to dance around. She turned to look at her friends, pointing at Isaac, as she called out,"Lahey, get your ass over here. You still owe me a dance."

"Avery!" Teagan hissed out, as she rushed into the room to turn the music off, before she woke up her father or the whole neighborhood.

"What is going on out here?" They heard a voice saying from the back of the house.

The other three turned their heads to see Avery's dad, Richard, coming toward them. Teagan quietly swore to herself, this is exactly what she was trying to stop from happening. It wasn't like Avery would get in trouble or anything, she didn't think Richard had ever punished his daughter for anything, but being busted by a parent was never fun.

"Hi, Mr, Dukate." Teagan said nervously.

"What's going on?" He questioned, as he tied the belt of the thick robe he slipped on over his pajamas. His gaze stopped on his daughter, who was dancing around to no music, then asked, "Avery, have you been drinking?"

"Yep!" Avery answered out, as she threw her arms in the air and continued to dance. "And lots of it!" She added.

Isaac took a step behind Teagan, laying his hands on her hips. He knew Avery and her father had a complicated relationship, and wasn't sure if he was going to start yelling at them all or if he was going to let Avery's behavior slide, either way he wanted to be close to his girlfriend just in case.

Richard sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, he didn't know what happened to his daughter to cause her to go out partying so much lately, but he couldn't help but feel relieved that she was at least home safe with her friends and not with a random guy she picked up at one of the trashy bars she had visited lately.

"Mr. Dukate, we're sorry for waking you up-" Teagan began to say, until the older man held up his hand to stop her.

"It's okay. I'm just relieved you all got her home safe." He said, as he looked over at the other three teens. He gave them a short nod, as he added, "But I think we all should get to bed, it's late."

"Of course, sir." Jackson spoke up.

"You are all welcome to stay here." He added.

The three teens nodded their heads in thanks, they were already planning to stay, but the offer was still appreciated.

"Good night." Richard called out to the group, as he began to walk back toward his room, which was located at the back of the house.

"Alright! Time to move the party upstairs." Avery announced, as she walked over to the stairs. "Jackson? Will you close up?" She asked out, wanting him to make sure all the windows and doors were lock.

As Jackson went around the house downstairs; Avery, Teagan and Isaac, made their way upstairs to the bedrooms.

Teagan already knew what room she was staying in, it was the one she normally slept in when she spent the night, unless she crashed in Avery's room, but tonight she wanted her own room.

She glanced over her shoulder, shooting Isaac a grin, as she reached behind her to grab his hand. She pulled him behind her, as she opened the bedroom door. She turned around to face him, a smile still on her face, as she grabbed both sides of his jacket and pulled him closer to her. She leaned forward, her lips inches from his, making him think she was going to kiss him, but when he leaned toward her to close the gap, she grinned and pulled back, causing him to groan.

She spun them around, his back facing the door, then playfully pushed him inside the bedroom with a laugh. She turned back around to look at Avery to call out a good night.

"Night!" Avery said back, as she gave her best friend a wave. She knew a night alone with her boyfriend was exactly what Teagan needed. Maybe her theory of drinking your problems away worked, at least for them. Either way it was nice to have a night off with her friend, and if it helped things with him and Teagan, that was a nice, added bonus.

Avery opened her bedroom door, then paused when she heard Jackson coming up the stairs.

"Everything's locked up tight." Jackson said, as he walked down the hallway toward her.

"Good." Avery said. She flashed Jackson a playful smile, as she nodded her head toward her bedroom and asked, "So, Jackson, would you like to join me for the after, after party?"

"There's been enough partying tonight, A." Jackson said, as he walked over to the room across the hall from hers.

"Oh, come on, Jackson, you know you want me." Avery joked, as she shimmied her chest, then began to laugh. She was barely able to say the comment with a straight face. They both knew she was joking and would never go there, she would never mess with a friend's boyfriend; current or ex.

Jackson laughed back as he shook his head, and joked back, "Please, we both know you have wanted me for years."

Avery snorted, before saying, "In your dreams, Whittemore."

Jackson laughed back, happy to see her laughing and joking around. It was something the two hadn't done in a while. The two joked around a little more, until he glanced down the hall, a few doors down from where he was standing when they heard Teagan laughing along with something Isaac apparently said or did.

Seeing the look on his face, Avery said, "She's really happy you know, I mean besides the crazy stuff in her head, she's happy."

"I know." Jackson said, as he forced himself to look away from the door. He looked back at Avery, as he added, "And that is all I want for her."

"You've really changed, Jackson, for the better." Avery stated.

"It was time to grow up." Jackson said back with a shrug.

"Well, I'm proud of you for getting your shit together." Avery said. She ran a hand through her hair as she softly said, "Hopefully the rest of us can too."

"You will." Jackson said, then smiled as he added, "You're Avery Dukate. You can do anything." As she smiled back, he said, "I've always told T I'm here for her, and I want to tell you the same. I'm always a phone call away, A. I know things have been rocky between us the last year or so, but I'm still here for you too."

Avery gave him a small smile and a nod to thank him. She turned around to go into her room, then paused to grab something from her desk. She turned back around, calling out to him, then tossed a set of ear buds to him, as she said, "You might need those."

"Thanks." Jackson said with a tight smile. He glanced at the bedroom Teagan was in one more time, then walked into his room, shutting the door behind him.

**~()~**

The next morning, Teagan was sleeping peacefully, which was something that hadn't happened in a while. Since the sacrifices, she had woken up screaming just about every night. She was actually surprised to open her eyes to the sun shining in her eyes and hearing birds chirp outside the window, she had actually expected to have the terrible nightmares again.

A smile appeared on her face, when she felt Isaac absentmindedly run a finger up and down her arm, his finger tip barely grazing her skin, giving her goose bumps. She turned around to face him, and softly chuckled when she saw he was still asleep, his mouth slightly opened.

She reached up to brush a curl from his forehead, then lightly touched the side of his face, seeing his lip twitch into a smile at her touch. Seeing that he wasn't opening his eyes yet, she laid a hand on his bare chest, then slowly ran her hand down to his stomach, running her nails against his skin. He raised his eyebrows, but kept his eyes closed, and groaned.

She leaned forward, pressing her lips against his ear then whispered, "Wake up, baby."

"Mmm, I don't want to." Isaac mumbled.

Teagan nibbled his ear, causing him to moan then questioned, "Why not?"

"Cause this is one hell of a dream I never want to wake up from." Isaac answered.

"It's not a dream, baby, it's real. Very real." Teagan whispered in his ear.

"You sure?" Isaac asked.

"I promise." She said back.

Isaac finally opened his eyes, grinning when he saw her smiling face in front of him. His eyes glanced down, seeing she had his shirt on again from last night, causing him to say, "You're right. This is real. Cause in my dream, you wouldn't have any clothes on."

Teagan chuckled at his comment, then leaned forward to softly kiss his lips. She felt his fingers grip the bottom of the t-shirt, before mumbling against her lips, "Why are you making me take this off again? I already did that last night, twice, actually."

"Maybe you need to work for it." Teagan teased.

"Mm, well, you are worth it." Isaac said back with a smile before he kissed her again.

The two kissed some more, then Isaac laid back on the bed, pulling her toward him to lay on his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair, just silently enjoying the moment a few more minutes.

He leaned down to kiss the top of her head, before saying, "I never heard you make a noise last night, does that mean no nightmares?"

"None." Teagan answered.

"Seriously?" Isaac asked, as he looked down at her with a surprised look on his face

She raised her head to look at him, giving him a huge smile, as she said, "Really. I slept through the night and had nothing but peaceful dreams."

"Babe, that's amazing." Isaac said, smiling back. He leaned down to kiss her lips, then said,"It's really amazing."

"Maybe it's over. Maybe whatever was wrong is fixed now." Teagan suggested.

"Maybe so." Isaac said back, smiling. "How do you feel this morning?" He asked.

"Like myself. Like my old self. I haven't felt this great in a while. I feel good." She answered with a smile. She leaned forward to give him a sweet kiss then added, "I think having you by my side helped. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, babe. I am always here for you, besides I should be the one thanking you." He said, as he laid a hand on the side of her face. "Thank you for opening up to me, for letting me help you."

After some bedroom fun, the two had a long talk, she finally opened up and told him everything that happened since the sacrifices; minus the gory details. But she confessed about the nightmares, the uneasy feelings and the hallucinations, she told him as much as she could; even promising to not keep him in the dark anymore, before she finally fell into a peaceful sleep.

"Thank you for not thinking I am crazy." Teagan softly said, knowing some of the things she told him sounded very insane.

"I would never think you are crazy." Isaac said, then added, "I'm just worried about you."

"No need to worry." Teagan said smiling. She sat up a little then leaned forward to kiss him, before adding, "I'm all better."

Isaac smiled at her words then laid his hand on the back of her neck, bringing her toward him to kiss her again. He kissed her a few times, then pulled back with a sigh, as he said, "Someone is up."

"Really?" Teagan asked with a grin as her eyes glanced down his body.

Isaac laughed, then said, "I don't mean that someone, although he is always ready to go for you, but I mean someone is moving around the house. Sounds like it's Avery and Jackson."

"Hmm." Teagan began to say, as she rolled over to grab her cell phone from the bedside table, checking the time, then groaned as she said, "We should probably be getting up too. Got school in a couple of hours."

"Or we can skip." Isaac suggested, as he moved her hair aside and began to kiss on the side of her neck.

She bit her bottom lip to keep from moaning out, then turned around to face him, as she said, "I wish I could, but with the way my grades are slipping lately, I can't afford to miss any days. Now that I can think clearer maybe I can actually get caught up on things for once."

Isaac lowered his head with a sigh, as he said, "Fine, we'll go to school, but I would really rather be with you in this bed all day."

"That would be a dream come true." Teagan softly said, as she grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers.

Isaac smiled at her words, then brought their joined hands to his mouth, kissing the back of her hand. "We should get up now. The more I lay here with you, the more I don't want to leave." He said, as he held on to her hand.

"I need to go borrow some clothes from Avery." Teagan stated. She knew she also needed a shower too after the night she had.

Isaac nodded his head, then said, "I'm going to head down to the kitchen. I need coffee, and lots of it. Hopefully some aspirins too."

"Aw, is my baby hung-over?" Teagan teased.

"Just a little." He admitted, as he held up two fingers close together. "Remind me to never drink that much again. Actually, remind me never to go to a bar again with Avery and definitely don't let her slip anything in my drink." He added with a groan, as he tossed the comforter off of his body and sat up.

Teagan chuckled at his comment, as much as she hated that he was hung over, she was glad that he was with Avery the night before. After the stories that Jackson told her of the way Avery use to act, there was no telling what could have happened to her best friend, but she knew her boyfriend would keep a close eye on her.

She watched him for a moment, as he stood up and stretched, she had to remind herself that going to school was a good thing. She quietly repeated it to herself over and over again, before she finally got out of bed, wishing she could stay in it with him.

She grabbed his blue jeans from the floor, then turned around to call out his name. She tossed them over to him, as she said, "Don't forget pants. I doubt Avery wants you in her kitchen with only boxers on."

She watched him step into his jeans, then added, "I mean, me personally, I love this look. The less clothes you have the better, but I doubt anyone else will love it as much as me."

"And that's why you are my girl." Isaac said with a smile, as he buttoned his pants.

He grabbed his shirt from the floor, then walked over toward her, giving her a quick kiss, then made his way toward the door. If they were ever going to leave, he had to do it now, the longer he stared at her with only his shirt on, her lean legs bare, the more he wanted those legs wrapped around him again.

He made his way down the stairs, slipping on his shirt, as he rounded the corner and walked into the kitchen. He came to a quick stop when he saw Jackson in the room, sitting at the counter sipping a cup of coffee.

Isaac nervously ran a hand through his hair, then cleared his throat, before saying, "Morning."

"Hey. There's coffee over there." Jackson said, as he nodded his head toward the side where the coffee machine was sitting with a pot of coffee he just recently made.

"Thanks." Isaac mumbled, as he glanced at the cabinets, trying to remember which ones had the cups.

"Second cabinet on the left." Jackson stated. "And if you look in the medicine cabinet in bathroom, the one on this floor, you'll find aspirins." He added, assuming he would need some.

"You were listening?" Isaac accused, thinking he had listened in to him and Teagan upstairs.

"No, but I have been hung-over before. Figured you'd wanted some." Jackson explained, then added, "And trust me, eavesdropping on you and my ex is not the highlight of my morning."

Isaac nodded his head, but didn't say anything, as he turned around to open the cabinet door, pulling out a coffee cup. As he poured the dark coffee into a cup, Jackson took another sip of his, before speaking.

"Look, I know we're not friends, and we'll never be friends, but we have one very big thing in common."

Isaac scoffed, then turned around to face Jackson, as he stated, "You still love her."

"I never stopped, but that should be the least of your concerns." Jackson said, then added, "I'm not here to cause problems. I'm just worried about her."

"She's better." Isaac pointed out.

"One good night of sleep doesn't mean she is better." Jackson said back. "Don't get me wrong, I hope it is all over, but if it's not, she's going to need you."

"And she knows I am there for her." Isaac said, as he folded his arms across his chest.

"She does, but you and I both know how she is. She would rather suffer in silence, then bring you down." Jackson said. He shook his head, then added, "You both have a bad habit of keeping each other in the dark about something to protect the other and that needs to stop. No matter what she says, when you know something is wrong with her, when you feel it in your gut, don't stop pushing. She might get mad and she might yell, but don't stop, cause in the end, you will be the one to pull her back. You're her anchor."

Isaac nodded his head, knowing everything he said was right, but was just surprised to hear it coming from him.

As if reading his mind, Jackson gave a short chuckle, as he said, "And believe me, I hate having to admit that. I wish it was me, but I have seen you two together, and it's been a long time since I have seen her that happy. So I guess all I'm really saying is; keep making her happy, don't screw it up."

"Or?" Isaac questioned, assuming a threat was coming next.

"You don't want to know 'or'." Jackson said with a smirk. If he ever found out Isaac hurt Teagan, he would be on the first plane back, making him regret it, but he had a feeling that wouldn't happen.

Isaac opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Avery walked in, looking cheery and put together. Her make up was flawless, no hair was out of place, and she was wearing one of her typical outfits. At first glance, anyone would think she was same old Avery, but she had gotten good at hiding how she really felt.

"Morning!" She called out happily to both boys. She grabbed a cup from the cabinet, pouring the last of the coffee into the cup, then turned around to face both boys, seeing the surprised look on Isaac's face, causing her to ask him what.

"How are you so cheerful this morning?" Isaac questioned.

"I'm not an amateur. I know how to hold my liquor." Avery joked. "I told you to slow down." She added with a shrug.

"No you didn't." Isaac said back with a laugh. "You kept pushing bottles at me, telling me to stop being a wimp and drink."

"You should never give in to peer pressure, Lahey." Avery said back, as she took a sip of her coffee.

Isaac leaned back against the counter, playfully rolling his eyes at her comment. Avery gave him a bright smile, then looked over at Jackson when she heard him quietly chuckling. She walked over to him, punching him in the shoulder, as she said, "And what are you laughing at, Whittemore?"

Jackson shook his head, then looked over at Avery as he said, "I'm just remembering when we all first got fake ids and went to a club for the first time. A similar thing happened, only difference is, you told me to stop being a dick and drink. You told me I was more likable when I'm drunk."

"Well it's true." Avery said with a shrug. "Everyone knows you're a dick, don't act like it's the first time you heard that." She joked.

"I get no love around here." Jackson joked, as he shook his head. "Remind me again why I stayed to visit?"

As if on cue, Teagan walked into the kitchen, causing everyone to look over at her, all of them knowing the answer to his question just walked into the room.

"What?" Teagan asked, as everyone stared at her.

Isaac cleared his throat, then said, "Nothing. Morning, babe."

"Morning." Teagan said back to him, flashing him a smile. She gave Avery and Jackson a nod, as if to tell them good morning, then walked over toward the coffee pot, she pouted when she saw it was empty.

"There's no coffee left?" She asked, as she glanced over her friends and boyfriend.

"You can have mine." Isaac offered, as he handed her his cup.

"Thanks, baby." Teagan said, as she took the cup from his hand. Taking a sip as she stood in front of him, feeling him wrap his arms around her waist and kiss the side of her head.

The small group was quiet for a few minutes, all of them lost in their own thoughts, until Teagan glanced over at the time, before saying, "I guess we need to leave for school soon."

"I need food first." Avery said.

"Yeah, is anyone as hungry as I am right now?" Isaac questioned.

"I could eat." Teagan said. With everything going on lately, sometimes she didn't have much of an appetite, but was feeling a lot better this morning.

"We could grab something on the way to school." Isaac suggested.

"Ooh, we could go to Pammy's Pancake Palace?" Teagan suggested, knowing it was one of Avery's favorite places. She looked over at the time again, then groaned out, before saying, "Or I guess not. There's not enough time." She laid her hand on her stomach, then added, "I wish there was though. Pam's pancakes are the best and sound so good right now."

"I've never heard of this place." Isaac said.

"Me either." Jackson commented.

"It's a great place, it's over on-"

"Shh, Teagan!" Avery called out, interrupting her best friend.

"Any reason why you are keeping this place a secret?" Jackson asked as he looked over at Avery.

"Yes, it is my place. It's a little hidden gem and I don't need all of you telling people where to find the best food in town." Avery explained.

"Avery only takes special people there." Teagan said with a smile. The two friends had been there numerous times in the past.

"Gee, thanks." Jackson said sarcastically.

"Maybe I will take you there one day, but not today." Avery said over to Jackson and Isaac.

"We can just hit McDonalds or something." Isaac suggested. "There's one right before we get to school."

"Sounds good to me." Avery said, as Teagan nodded her head in agreement.

Teagan looked over at Jackson, as she asked, "Are you joining us?"

"I would, but actually I'm heading for the airport." Jackson said, as he stood up from the stool. Since Teagan seemed to doing better, he knew it was time for him to go. He hoped she continued to get better, but if not, at least she had Isaac to open up to now since things were good with them again which was why he ordered himself a plane ticket after everyone had gone to sleep.

"Wait, what?" Teagan asked surprised, as she glanced at Avery, wondering if she knew he was leaving, but she looked just as surprised as Teagan. "You're leaving?" She added, as she took a few steps toward him, standing in front of him.

"Like you said, I can't put my life on hold, but even if I'm not here, I am still here for you, T. This is not goodbye." Jackson said. He laid a hand on her shoulder, giving it a small squeeze, as he added,"You know you can call me. Anytime, day or night." His eyes flickered over to Avery and Isaac, then looked back at her, as he continued, "But I have a feeling you are going to be okay."

Teagan nodded her head as tears filled her eyes then said, "I'm going to miss you, Jackson."

"I'll miss you too, T." Jackson said back, as he pulled her toward him to give her a hug. "I'll always miss you." He whispered in her ear, before letting her go.

"Hey, don't forget about me." Avery said, as she walked over to him, giving him a big hug.

"I could never forget The Avery Dukate." Jackson joked, as he hugged her back. "Take care of yourself, A." He added, seriously.

"Thank you for everything, Jackson." Avery whispered out, thanking him for being there for her the night before and any other time in the past.

He pulled back to look at her, then added, "Remember, I'm only a phone call away."

Avery nodded her head, then took a few steps back. She never thought she would say it, but she was going to miss him. No matter how many ups and downs they had, he was still one of her best friends.

Jackson glanced over at Isaac for a moment, giving him a short nod, reminding him of their conversation earlier. He was going to miss his friends, and his old home, but he knew it was time to get back to his life in London.

He was still worried about Teagan, as well as Avery, but he had a feeling the two friends would be okay. The two had always been there for each other, doing whatever to help the other, and he had no doubt they would continue to help each other through everything. Besides the two had a great support system, their friends and family would do anything for them. If anyone deserved a happy ending it was those two, and after everything they had been through lately, he just hoped they got it; their happy ending, but if not, he was always there for them, like he told them, he was only a phone call away. This was not goodbye.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thank you all for reading, I hope you guys really liked the chapter!**

**If you haven't yet, check out Miss E Charlotte's profile (the link is up on my profile) for links to sites like her Tumblr, she posts sneak peeks and other Blue Moon related content! We both have Polyvore accounts as well as videos we've made for these stories.**

**Updates for this story should be frequent and regular because we are actually just a few scenes away from finishing up 3B and moving on into season 4. ^_^**

**Don't forget to take the time to leave us a review, we are so grateful for all of your support!**


	5. Common Ground

**Chapter 5 – Common Ground**

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><p>"Hey guys." Avery greeted as she and Lydia walked up to the picnic table outside of school.<p>

"Hey, I was just about to text you again." Teagan said with a soft smile as she leaned back against Isaac's body, feeling his grip tighten around her.

Avery smiled at the sight of Teagan sitting on Isaac's lap, they looked happy. And with everything that had been happening lately, it wasn't a look she saw very often on her best friends face.

Lydia waved to Allison as the other girl joined them and sat down next to Isaac, and Lydia sat beside her.

Feeling an unnatural gust of window blow past her, Avery looked around to see that for the moment the leaves on the trees were still. A chill ran up her spine as she sat down across from Allison, and looked around her breathing slightly labored.

Just as she stared to ask where Stiles and Scott were, they sat down on either side of Avery, who looked side to side smiling at both friends.

"So… history or…" Teagan started to ask but Allison cut in.

"Econ, let's start with econ."

"Ooh!" Avery exclaimed as she pulled the current nights assignment out of her folder and said, "I already did tonight's homework."

With an arched brow Lydia pointed out, "You mean you had someone do your homework for you."

"Point is… the assignment is done and a guaranteed A. And considering everyone's grades except for mine and Lydia's are dropping…" Avery was saying but stopped as she heard a soft giggle from her best friend. Looking up she saw Teagan and Isaac lost in their own little conversation.

"Teagan!" Avery said loudly but shot her a smile as she continued, "You might wanna copy these answers down."

With a proud, wide smile she looked around the table as she said, "I actually already did all of my homework so far!"

"Do you want me check it?" Lydia asked, trying not to offend her, but it was no secret that Teagan hadn't been preforming at a hundred percent lately.

"It better be right, I already copied it during free period." Isaac spoke up, causing his girlfriend to playfully gasp as she accused, "You said you were just comparing our answers!"

The table broke out into laughter, except for Stiles who was looking at his own assignment paper with the hand he was trying to write with trembled uncontrollably.

Avery frowned and let out a small sigh, wishing she knew some way to help him read again, but she didn't have a clue how to help with that.

Reaching over she took his blank paper and pencil from him as she read the answers off her own assignment upside down, as Allison had the paper facing her, and messily scribbled them down on his paper trying to make it look like his hand writing.

Stiles sighed in disappointment at himself as he placed his elbows on the table and rest his face in his hands. It was just reading, a skill he'd picked up sooner than most of his peers and now he couldn't even read a simple word.

Things had been a little awkward, to say the least since Avery had chosen Derek over him, and then apparently Derek had left Beacon Hills.

Of course he still loved Avery, she was one of his closest friends, but it still made things a little awkward; not to mention whenever she'd have to help him with reading something he got the feeling it was mostly out of feeling sorry for him. If there was one thing he didn't need or want, it was someone else's pity.

Scott stared down to his book as he drummed his pen against it. Everyone seemed worried about getting their homework done, or more so, copying the work Avery had –had done for her. But all he could think about was how he'd almost lost control and hurt his friends.

"Come on golden boy." Avery softly said when she and Allison were done writing down the answers. With a nudge she pushed the paper his way.

"No." He reminded her, as he handed it back.

When Avery rolled her eyes, he clarified, "I need to do this myself."

"Yeah, he won't even let me copy his work when he does it." Isaac said, causing Teagan to laugh as she pointed out, "Because you need to do your own work too."

"I can't just sit here and do this study group." Scott complained as he said, "We have real problems going on here."

Slamming his text book shut he looked at his friends as he said, "Serious problems that we can't find the answers to in any text book."

Stiles looked over the homework Avery had finished for him and nodded in agreement, he couldn't keep going on the way he was.

Teagan took in a shaky breath; she'd been having a good day after a nightmare free night, which never happened for her anymore. The last thing she wanted to do was bring it all back up, what if it triggered something and it all started again?

"It's okay, babe… I'm right here." Isaac whispered, feeling the tension pouring off of her.

Nodding she said, "Okay… we can talk, but honestly I'm doing a lot better. Are you guys?"

Stiles rubbed a hand through his hair and said, "Considering Avery just had to do my homework… _again_, no I'm not doing any better."

"And I almost ripped Avery and Stiles apart." Scott said, and then turned to look at Avery.

"Please." She mumbled waving her hand to dismiss him as she stated, "Already forgotten."

"Not by me." He said, giving her an apologetic look.

"Speaking of you, Avery. How are you doing?" Allison asked, as she closed the rest of her books she'd had opened and scattered.

"Fabulous."

"Look, you did the same thing that they did… you can't tell me it didn't affect you." Allison said with a concerned look.

Immediately, her hand went to her mom's necklace as she rubbed the smooth silver charm and shrugged, "It was different, I wasn't being a surrogate sacrifice… I just needed to get to the same state of consciousness as Teagan to help her. Two completely different things."

"They don't sound all that different." Isaac admitted.

Avery looked over in his direction, her eyes locking with Teagan briefly before she looked away and said, "I'm fine." Turning her attention to Stiles she held out her hand and said, "History."

He looked down to his folders, only able to tell the difference from colors, as he looked at her with a defeated expression and handed her the packet of their homework for the night.

Shaking his head he sighed again looked the other way, trying to ignore the look she'd just given him.

"Okay." Scott said looked over to Stiles and then to Teagan, "We had a near death experience…"

Teagan avoided his eyes, wishing she'd just skipped their study group for that day.

"So what happens to someone who has an experience like that and comes out of it seeing things?"

Chiming in Stiles added, "And is unable to tell what's real or not."

Teagan's gaze snapped to him as she shakily breathed out, "You can't tell reality from your nightmares?" She knew she wasn't the only one going through it, but she didn't realize that maybe Stiles and even Scott could have it as bad as she was.

She'd been feeling so unstable, snapping at everyone she cared about and even pushing Isaac away. From what she'd seen, Stiles and Scott appeared to be holding things together better than her.

"I don't even know if this is real." Stiles whispered, just loud enough his friends could hear him.

"I could pinch you." Avery said with an innocent smile and a small jolt of attitude as she slid his finished homework back to him.

Lydia and Allison lightly laughed as Stiles scooted away some and stumbled over his sentence. "No, I don't need you to pinch me. I'm still bruised from the last time."

"Don't forget being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives." Allison added, looking over to Teagan as she spoke.

"I'm okay, honestly. No more nightmares, no waking hallucinations. I'm very aware that this is all real." Teagan assured them.

Teagan thought about pinching Allison the way Avery had threatened to do to Stiles, she knew she was still worried about her but she was actually feeling good and wanted to keep it that way.

"What happens to someone with all of that? They get locked up, because they sound crazy." Isaac spoke up.

"Ha!" Stiles snapped bitterly, "Can you at least try to be helpful, please?"

"He's still learning how to play with others." Avery said, flashing him a smile as he narrowed his eyes at her and pointed out, "For half of my childhood, I was locked in a freezer. So being helpful is kind of a new thing for me."

Teagan frowned, a rush of anger surging through her at the thought of Isaac's dad treating him like that. Isaac was one of the kindest, gentlest people she'd ever met and the idea of anyone at all, treating him so horrible made her sick.

"Dude, you really still milking that?" Stiles asked as he slammed one of his folders shut and pushed it into a textbook, crinkling the pages as he did.

"Yeah, maybe I am still milking that." Isaac responded.

But Avery's mind was elsewhere, barely paying attention to her friends anymore as she watched a single bird flying in the early afternoon sun. Her mind flashed back to walking out of the old distillery and seeing all of the small, feathered corpses littering the ground around them, her finger and thumb still absent mindedly rubbing the charm on her necklace.

The bird landed on a slightly bare tree branch, before it's small body dropped to the ground.

Avery gasped as witnessing the bird's sudden, unexplained death.

"Are you okay?" Teagan asked concerned as all eyes went to the blonde.

"I just remembered something is all." She laughed, quickly covering the frightening moment.

"Hi…"

Everyone turned to look at Kira as she cleared her throat and continued, "Hi, sorry. I couldn't help but overhear what you guys were talking about."

When no one responded her voice shook as she continued, "And I think I might actually know what you're talking about. There's a Tibetan word for it, it's called Bardo."

"In between state?" Teagan breathed out.

"Yeah, the state between life and death." Kira smiled at the brunette, not understanding how her words were affecting the group of friends.

"And… what do they call you?" Lydia questioned, shooting her a judgmental look.

Avery let out a small laugh at her friend's behavior, Lydia wasn't used to someone knowing more about anything than she did.

Seeing the familiar blonde, Kira quickly answered, "I'm Avery's friend, Kira."

"She's in our history class." Scott nodded with a smile, as his gaze lingered on the new student.

"Oh…" Lydia said with raised eyebrows before exclaiming, "So, are you talking Bardo as in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?"

Avery scooted closer to Stiles, and Scott scooted over closer to her to allow Kira to sit down beside him as she started to explain, "Either one, I guess. But all of the stuff you were just saying, it all happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you have hallucinations, some you can see others you just hear."

"Like seeing a dead relative?" Avery asked, thinking back to when she'd saw her mother's reflection in her window and in the mirror a few times.

But Teagan shifted a little on Isaac's lap, thinking Avery was almost calling her out in front of the new girl.

"Yeah, you can be visited by peaceful and wrathful deities." Kira nodded with a smile, having no clue how much her words were slowly destroying the group of friends at the table.

"Wrathful deities… meaning what? What are those?" Isaac questioned looking around Teagan and nodding a greeting to Kira.

"Demons." She said her smile growing, thinking she was on the fast track to a new group of friends.

"Demons, why not." Stiles exclaimed with a sarcastic smile and a loud nervous laugh as he started to gather up his books and folders.

"If there are different progressive states then what's the last one?" Allison asked, growing more concerned for her friends by the second.

"Death!" Kira answered, then added, "You die."

Isaac's grip tightened on his girlfriend's sides and he could hear her heart starting to race.

"How can you say that with a smile?" Teagan breathed out, she was sure her own problems had stopped, but was also well aware that Scott and Stiles seemed to only be getting worse.

Kira's smile fell to a frown as she looked at the brunette and apologized, "I'm sorry… I just…"

But Avery cut her off, "She's more twisted than I am, that's why I didn't tell you guys about her."

Looking over she flashed Teagan a smile, trying to ease her nerves some. As Lydia threw her head back and laughed, "More twisted than Avery Dukate, I doubt that."

A low rumble of laughter fell over the table as everyone started to grab their books and head their separate ways, but Kira stared down to the peeled paint of the picnic table disappointed in herself.

Even with their laughing, the mood had shifted and she could feel it.

When she finally raised her head back up she saw Avery was the only one left, as she hurriedly scribbled the answers down on one of Stiles' papers he'd left.

"I'm sorry." Kira apologized again, as she looked up to see Scott and Stiles heading towards the school talking amongst themselves.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Isaac facing Teagan under a large tree, gently rubbing her upper arms and appearing to try and calm her down, before pulling her in for a loving embrace.

"So, this Bardo you're talking about… what else do you know?" Avery finally asked, as she pulled a compact out of her purse and checked her make up.

"That's about all I know…" She sighed then her eyes lit up as she happily volunteered, "I could find more out though… print some information off and bring it to you tomorrow?"

"That would actually be really helpful, thank you." Avery said offering a smile as she stood up.

Kira pulled her bag off the table and smiled.

"Do me a favor though… bring the information to Scott, instead of me."

Kira's mouth hung open as she stuttered, "Uh, okay…" She watched as Avery left without another word to her, as the blonde headed over to where Teagan and Isaac were.

**~()~**

Teagan stood by the oven, her hip against the counter, as she watched the timer get closer to zero. She nervously bit her bottom lip, hoping the cake turned out right and would be edible.

Her mother was always the baker, the recipe she followed was one her mother used a million of times, but it was her first time making it alone and it needed to be perfect, the whole night needed to be perfect.

Isaac was coming over for dinner with her and her father, it would be the first time the two were in a room for longer than a few minutes since they were all in the root cellar. She knew her father still wasn't comfortable with the whole werewolf thing, but he finally agreed to having dinner with Isaac and try to see him as a normal guy, the way he use to view him, and not as a werewolf.

As the timer beeped, she heard the front door open. She quickly took the cake out of the oven, then glanced over her shoulder as she called, "Dad? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Sweet Tea, it's me." Paul called out, using his foot to shut the front door since he was holding a few paper bags in his hands.

"Where have you been? You were supposed to be here forty-five minutes ago." Teagan called out, as she removed the apron from her waist, tossing it on the counter, then rushed out of the kitchen, meeting him in the foyer.

"I know, I'm sorry, I got caught up at work and the grocery store was packed." Paul explained, as he juggled the paper bags to set his briefcase and keys down.

"We still have to get the grill going, cook the steaks, get the baked potatoes and veggies going, and-"

"And we will." Paul said, interrupting her, as he handed her a bag to carry. "It'll be okay, Sweet Tea, calm down." He added, seeing that she was getting stressed.

"I know, but it's just... this dinner is really important." Teagan said, as the two began to walk into the kitchen. "It's important to me that you don't hate my boyfriend anymore." She added, as she sat her bag down on the counter.

"Honey, I don't hate Isaac." Paul said, as he sat his bags down. When Teagan turned around to shoot him a look, he added, "I'm serious, I don't hate him. He's a nice kid, but-"

"But he's a werewolf, and you hate that." Teagan interrupted.

"It just takes some getting used to and I'm trying here, Teagan." Paul pointed out.

"I know and I do really appreciate it, Dad." Teagan said back.

The two were quiet for a moment, until Paul saw the cake by the oven cooling, then said, "It smells good in here."

"Thanks." Teagan said with a smile, as she looked over at her shoulders at the cake, it looked and smelled good, she just hoped it taste good as well. She turned back to look at her dad, as she added, "I found mom's old chocolate cake recipe and thought I'll give it a try. It looks good."

"Let's give it a try then." Paul said smiling, as he grabbed a fork then grabbed a small piece of cake to taste test it.

Teagan waited with a hopeful look, waiting to see what he thought, but when he made a face then spit the piece out, her face fell.

"Is it that bad?" Teagan questioned with a slight pout.

"How much salt did you put in it?" Paul asked, as he grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

"Whatever the recipe said." Teagan said, as she picked the piece of paper from the counter and looked over it. She pointed to the ingredients as she said, "Right here, it says half..." She paused for a second, seeing that a piece of chocolate batter had covered up the rest. She wiped it off with her finger, then said,"Oh. I was supposed to do half a teaspoon, but I thought it was tablespoon."

"It's okay." Paul said, as he walked over to the cabinets, looking around for something.

"No, it's not okay." Teagan said, beating herself up as she threw away the bad cake. "I can't believe I screwed this up. It was simple recipe." She added, as she leaned back against the counter, folding her arms across her chest.

"Your mother wasn't always the great cook that you know." Paul said, still looking in the cabinets. "When we first got together she tried to cook me dinner and almost killed us both by not cooking the chicken long enough. Then there was the time she didn't cook a cake long enough and the middle was raw, and the time she overcooked the bread and it turned out hard as rock, but she got better and you will too. Until then..." He began to say, as he turned around to hand her a box of cake mix, then continued, "You keep trying."

"Thanks, Dad." Teagan said with a small smile, as she took the box from his hand.

"While you do that, I'm going to change then get the grill going." Paul said, as he loosened his tie.

"Okay." Teagan said, as she began to pull the things she would need from the refrigerator. "Aspen is already in the back yard, so you'll have company while you cook." She added. She had let the dog out earlier to run around while she tried to make the cake.

"I'm sure he'll be right under me, wanting for food to fall." Paul joked, causing her to laugh, as he began to walk out of the room and go to his bedroom to change out of his work clothes.

Several minutes later, while her father was getting the grill going, she was mixing up the batter, until she heard the doorbell ring. She glanced at the clock on the wall, silently cursing at the time, she didn't realize it had gotten so late. Now Isaac was there and dinner wasn't ready.

She rushed over to the door to open it and smiled at Isaac, who was standing on the other side, with his hands behind his back.

"Hi." Teagan said, the sight of him still made her heart race and always would, no matter how long they dated.

"Hi." Isaac said back, smiling at her. Even if he was nervous about this dinner, just seeing her in front of him helped calmed him down. She always had that effect on him.

The two looked at each other for a moment, Teagan taking in his appearance, noticing how cute he looked in a pair of dark colored jeans and black t-shirt with a button down plaid shirt over it.

When he cleared his throat, raising his eyebrows at her, she took a quick step back, as she said, "Oh sorry, come on in."

"Sorry I'm such a mess." She began to say, as he walked into the house. She glanced behind her, pointed toward the kitchen as she continued, "We got off to a late start, and still getting dinner together, I'm so sorry, I-"

As she turned back around to face him, she saw that had removed his hands from behind his back and was holding up a white and pink rose, causing her voice to trail off as she smiled.

"Stop apologizing. For one; you're not a mess, and even if you were, you would be a beautiful mess, never forget that." He began to say, as he handed her the roses, leaving her speechless. "And two; I don't mind that dinner isn't ready yet. I can wait, but one thing I can't wait on, is this..."

Without another word, he wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her toward him, as he cupped her cheek and pressed his lips against hers for a gentle kiss. Teagan blew out a breath, feeling all the stress leaving her body, as she rested her forehead against his.

"You always know the right thing to say." She softly said, keeping her eyes closed. "You always know how to calm me down. It's one of the many things I love about you." She added.

Isaac smiled at her words, then leaned forward to press his lips against her for another kiss. "You taste like chocolate." He stated, as he licked his lips, then kissed her again before nibbling on her bottom lip, causing her to quietly moan.

"I'm making a cake." Teagan said, as she pulled back to look at him.

"Can I help?" Isaac offered.

Teagan nodded her head, then reached back to grab his hand, before turning around and began to walk toward the kitchen. "I love the roses, by the way." She said, as she glanced over her shoulder to smile at him.

Isaac smiled back as he came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist, then softly kissed the back of her neck before whispering in her ear, "And I love you."

Teagan turned around in his arms, giving him a kiss to properly thank him. She pulled back to look at him, as she lightly ran her nails across the back of his neck, before whispering back, "I love you, too."

After a few more kisses, Teagan pulled away to put the roses in a vase, then went back to mixing up the cake mix. Once they were done, she put the cake pan in the oven then set the timer, before turning to face Isaac, seeing him using his finger to pick up some batter from the bowl. Before he placed his finger in his mouth, she playfully slapped his hand, telling him he was going to spoil his dinner.

Isaac chuckled, ignoring her comment, and stuck his finger in his mouth anyways. When he went to stick his finger in the bowl again, she gasp, then began to laugh as she said, "Would you stop that!"

"I can't help it. It's good." He said, then added with a twinkle in his eye, "But I know what would make it better."

As Teagan lowered her eyebrows in confusion, he ran his finger through the bowl again, then stepped closer to her and pushed the strap of the tank top she was wearing from her shoulder, before running his finger against her bare shoulder, leaving a trail of batter. Teagan kept her eyes on him, as he placed more on the side of her neck, then across her jaw.

He shot her a grin then leaned down, placing his lips against her shoulder. As he began to lick the batter from her skin, she closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip to keep from moaning out. When she felt him getting closer to her neck, she tilted her head to the side, giving him better access to the batter on her neck.

As he nibbled and sucked on the side of her neck, she grabbed on to his arms, her nails digging into his skin, as she tried to keep from falling to the floor in a gooey mess when her knees buckled.

Teagan was so lost in the moment, it took her a few seconds to realize, he had stopped and took a few steps away from her. She grabbed on to the counter panting, as she looked over at him, wondering why he stopped.

As if reading her mind, he nodded over toward the door, as her father walked inside, greeting the two teens. Paul looked over at his daughter, seeing that her face was red as she tried to catch her breath.

"Are you okay?" He questioned his daughter.

"Hmm? Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm-I'm good." Teagan stuttered, trying to calm down. "I'm just hot." She said, as she blew out a breath. realizing how that sounded, she quickly added, "I mean it's hot. In-In here, you know, cause of the ov-oven and all."

When she heard Isaac quietly snicker from beside her, she bit her bottom lip, refusing to look at him, as she smiled at her father and asked, "Is the grill ready?"

"Yeah, I was just coming in here to grab the steaks." Paul answered, as he walked over to the refrigerator.

While his back was turned, Teagan turned to look at Isaac, shooting him a dirty look then playfully punched him in the stomach. He smiled and tried not to laugh at her antics. When she went to punch him again, he grabbed her hand, bringing it up to his mouth, as he playfully bit her finger, causing her to softly gasp and pull her hand away, which only made him want to laugh more.

"Hey, Sweet Tea, where did you put the steaks?" Paul asked, without turning around, never knowing what was going on behind him.

Teagan quickly turned around, her back toward Isaac now, as she called out, "Bottom drawer on the right."

While Paul continued to look for the steaks, Isaac stepped up behind Teagan, resting his hands on her hips and pulled her against him. Her mouth dropped open when she felt how excited he was.

She glanced over her shoulder to look at her, as she mouthed the word, '_behave_.'

"I can't." Isaac whispered in her ear, before he softly kissed her neck.

Teagan bit her bottom lip and squeezed her eyes shut for a second. He wasn't the only one turned on right now, but this wasn't the way to get her father to like him. As much as she hated to do it, she pulled away from him and began to walk toward her dad. She cleared her throat, as she asked, "Did you uh, did you find them?"

"Found em." Paul said, as he pulled out the steaks from the drawer then turned around to face them. He took a close look at his daughter, lowering his eyebrows in confusion as he pointed toward her jaw at the batter, and asked,"What's that?"

"Oh! I uh, I-I accidentally got batter on my face." Teagan said with wide eyes. She turned around to grab a hand towel from the counter, trying to wipe it off.

"Oh." Paul said with a nod, accepting the answer. He looked over at Isaac, as he asked, "Want to help me cook these?"

"Uh, um, y-yeah, sure." Isaac nervously said. He never really minded being around her father alone before, but now knowing Paul knew the truth about everything and wasn't comfortable with Teagan being involved it made him extremely nervous.

"He'll be out there in a second." Teagan said to her dad, wanting a minute to talk to Isaac alone.

"Okay, see you in a bit." Paul said, as he turned and walked back outside.

Teagan turned around to look at Isaac, seeing the nervous look on his face. She didn't have to be a werewolf to know his heart was racing now. She walked over toward him, taking his hands in hers, as she asked, "Are you okay? If you're not comfortable being alone with dad I can just tell him I need your help in here."

"No, it's okay. It'll be fine." Isaac said, hoping his words were true. "That's what this dinner is about, right? Me and him spending time together, getting comfortable with each other."

Teagan nodded her head, giving him a smile to thank him. She was glad both of the men in her life were trying to get along for her sake.

"Oh, by the way..." Isaac began to say, shooting her a grin, as he leaned forward to press his lips against her jaw, lightly licking the remaining batter from her skin. He placed his lips against her ears, as he whispered, "You missed a spot."

"Get out of here." Teagan said with a laugh, as she playfully pushed him away from her.

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, then made his way outside to meet up with her father. He took a deep breath; slowly releasing it as he remembered he was doing this for Teagan, then began to walk across the patio, making his way toward the grill that was set up toward the side of the house.

He came to a stop beside the grill, sliding his hands into his front pant pockets, as he watched Paul flip the steaks. The two were silent, neither one really knowing what to say first.

Paul cleared this throat, then looked over at the teenage boy for a moment. He knew the day would come that his little girl would begin to date and even fall in love, he just never thought it would be with a werewolf, pulling her into a very dangerous world.

"I'm sure you can understand why I'm not completely on board with Teagan being with you." Paul began to say, finally breaking the silence.

"Trust me, I get it. I hate that I pulled her into my world, and I worry about her every day. I've tried to keep her from getting involved." Isaac said, then added with a small laugh, "But you've got one very head strong daughter. She jumps right in without a second thought."

"She gets that from her mother." Paul said with a smile, as he thought about his late wife. "She was always stubborn and Teagan is just like her." He added, as a through crossed his mind, he continued, "I just don't want her to end up like her mother. I don't want this world to destroy her."

"I don't either." Isaac agreed, then added, "Believe me, Mr. Young, I love your daughter and I would do anything to protect her."

"I know." Paul said honestly. He saw that first hand when they were in the root cellar. He had no doubt that Isaac would give his life for hers if it came down to that. "I know that you love her, and most fathers would only worry about that. They would worry that their little girl fell too hard, too fast, but that's not what I'm concern about. I'm concern about her safety and her sanity."

"Sometimes I wished I would have talked her out of doing the sacrifice..." Isaac began to say with a sigh, then added, "But if I did, we might not would have found you and the others."

"Part of me wishes you could have stopped her too." Paul said, agreeing with him. "But like I said, I know how stubborn she can be. You wouldn't have been able to stop her." He added.

"Things are getting worse for her, aren't they?" Isaac questioned, as he looked down at the ground, a pained look on his face. He already knew the answer, before Paul spoke.

"They are." He replied, then added, "She says it's getting better and honestly, I think that is what she wants to believe, but it's not getting better." He paused for a moment, then asked, "Did she tell you what happened to her hand?"

Isaac shook his head, remembering the deep cut on her hand earlier that week, as he said, "All she said was she accidentally cut herself."

"Again, I think that is what she wants to believe." Paul said, then added, "I walked into the kitchen, she was standing in the middle of broken glass, I guess she dropped it or something, but she had a piece in her hand. I yelled at her to stop, but it was like she couldn't hear me, she was in a daze, then she sliced her hand open."

"Why?" Isaac questioned, a worried look on his face. He couldn't understand why she would do that, he also couldn't understand why she didn't tell him.

"She was sleep walking, I guess." Paul said, not really sure what it would be called. "She kept saying _'it's not real'_ until she finally snapped awake." He took a shaky breath, trying to stay strong, before saying, "Look, I don't really know what is going on and I don't know how to fix it. A bad grade, a broken heart or skinned knees, those things I can fix, but my baby girl losing her mind, I can't fix that, and I-I need your help, Isaac. Help me fix her."

"I will." Isaac said, then added, "I promise you, I won't give up on her. I won't fail her."

"Thank you." Paul said sincerely with a nod.

Before either one could say another word, they heard the sliding glass door open, followed by Aspen barking as he ran over toward Teagan happily, as she walked outside. She petted the top of his head, then began to walk over toward the grill, the white dog following her.

"Hey, are the steaks almost done?" Teagan questioned.

"Yeah, almost." Paul answered, as he flipped them.

Teagan stood beside Isaac, reaching out to link one of her fingers with his, then glanced over at him, shooting him a smile, making sure he was okay. She hoped her father wasn't too hard on him or tried to scare him off.

"How is everything going out here?" She questioned, as she looked at both of them. "Did you two find something in common to talk about?" She added.

"Yeah we did." Paul said, as he looked over at Isaac, who was nodding his head in agreement. The two had something very big in common, wanting to save Teagan.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thank you all so much for reading. I hope you're all enjoying the story; we're getting really close to really delving into all of the action and darkness of season 3B. Also, in the next chapter a certain young deputy makes an appearance! ^_~**

**We appreciate your guys' support so much and if you're reading the story we'd love to hear from you, we really hope you'll take the time to leave us a review. Thank you for everything!**


	6. One Part Angel & One Part Danger

**Chapter 6 – One Part Angel & One Part Danger**

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><p>"And what about Teagan?" Dr. Deaton questioned after listening to what Scott and Stiles told him about what was happening with them.<p>

Shaking her head Avery admitted, "She's turned into an insomniac… I guess she has to be -every time she tries to sleep she wakes up from these horrible nightmares."

Glancing to Stiles and then back to her he asked, "She's also having trouble distinguishing between reality and the nightmares?"

Avery nodded, her lips pursed into a thin line, "She keeps seeing her mom… her dead mom."

He took a deep breath and turned the open sign to closed on the door, before turning back to the group of teens and saying, "It sounds like your subconscious is trying to communicate with you."

They followed him out of the waiting room back to an exam room, as Stiles asked, "Well, then how do I tell my subconscious to use a language that I actually know?"

"Stiles, what did the sign language you saw look like?" Avery asked as she turned face him once they were in the room.

He stared ahead at a poster displaying different dog breeds on the wall for a few moments until he slowly raised his hands and began to sign what he'd seen.

"You know sign language?" Scott asked her surprised.

"No."

"I know a little…" Deaton admitted as he watched Stiles repeat the motions a few time.

"When." Deaton read the first sign and nodded for him to continue.

"Then there was this, twice."

Reading his sign language Deaton said, "That's door."

Showing them the next sign, he said, "That was it."

"Did you understand it?" Avery questioned looking at the veterinarian.

"When is a door not a door?"

Shaking his head Stiles scoffed, "When is a door not a door?"

Avery dropped her arms to her side and stared up at the ceiling in irritation and disbelief, she'd hoped it would be something to help them, but now she thought their situation would seem even more hopeless.

"When it's ajar…" Scott realized the riddle and solved it.

"Really, are you kidding me a riddle?" Avery asked as she absent mildly started to scratch at her arm, trying to ignore the itching all over body. The aching need to draw power from something or someone, even if it meant it she'd hurt a living creature to get it.

"My subconscious wants to tell me a riddle… great, just perfect. That's not the least but helpful." Stiles angrily exclaimed.

"More helpful than you think." Deaton said, then continued, "When you went under water, crossing from the unconsciousness to a kind of super-consciousness essentially opened a door in your minds."

"Meaning what?" Scott questioned.

"Meaning you need to shut the doors." Avery reasoned, thinking it was a common sense explanation.

"And soon, very soon." Dr. Deaton agreed with her.

"But how?" Scott asked, concerned lining his face.

"Well, that's difficult to answer. Each of you had to travel on your own journeys to find the nemeton and be pulled back to the land of the living. I'd say the both of you and Teagan will have different ways to close the doors. There is no clear cut answer."

The three friends exchanged looks, it wasn't a one size fits all answer but it was at least a start. Now that they at least knew what was wrong with them, maybe they could each start working on trying to fix it.

"I think you know more than you're telling us." Stiles finally admitted.

"The one thing I do know is Avery right, you need to shut the door. Because having that opening in your mind is not good. I don't even know that the lasting results could be." He explained.

Stiles took in a shaky breath and mumbled something about needing some air as he raced towards the exit with Scott on his heels.

Avery took out her phone and sent Isaac a series of texts, explaining everything they'd learned and asking about how Teagan was doing.

"Avery."

She paused in the doorway to the room as she slowly turned around and questioned, "Yes?"

"I know what you did, getting in my head when I was explaining the ice bath to the them."

Avery's jaw tensed and she looked down to the floor, not sure if she had a lecture or something worse coming her way.

"Do you know how serious that is?" He asked trying not to upset her, because he could already feel her closing off from the accusation.

"I guess it means that I need to learn to cover my tracks better." She suavely replied with a smirk.

With an unamused expression he shook his head back and forth, "I know what you are…"

Unintentionally snapping at him she accused, "I think you knew all along, and just didn't tell me. Which was really helpful by the way."

Biting down on the inside of her cheek for a few moments she finally asked, "I don't get it, everyone comes to you for help and you help them. But the first and only time I came to you for help… you couldn't be bothered with it, with me."

Shaking his head back and forth he said, "I didn't know for sure, but yes; I had my suspicions. Your mother was very powerful, and with the way Deucalion sought after you… I knew you were more than an emissary. But I didn't tell you because you're far too young and too unstable to harness that kind of power. Opening yourself up to all of that, meddling in things that should be left alone… it changes you."

Crossing her arms over her chest she shook her head back and forth, a part of her was mad for him not warning her about what she could be. But mostly she was upset he'd pointed out what she was afraid of; that the power had changed her.

"I'm not unstable… what do you mean I'm too unstable to handle this?" She sneered.

"Let me ask you a question, Avery. I know you managed to force yourself into a state of super-consciousness to help Teagan on her journey, how have you been?"

"Just fine." She replied.

"No nightmares?"

"Sleeping like a baby." She lied with a straight face.

Nodding but not believing her he asked, "No hallucinations or trouble focusing?"

"Do I look crazy to you?" Her voice had a jolt of attitude as she stared him down.

"No, not crazy… just broken. If we take the state of super-consciousness and even Deucalion out of the picture, you still witnessed your mom killing people. Has anyone asked you how you're coping with having to lose her all over again?"

Taking deep breath she commanded the tears stinging her eyes to not roll down her cheeks, she wasn't breaking down, not in front of anyone.

"I have the best friends that anyone could ask for, of course they've checked on me." Her tone was assured and almost emotionless, as she continued to disconnect from him and the conversation.

"Having a support system only goes so far when you're not willing to accept the help." He quietly said, with a frown as she not only emotionally shut down the thoughts and conversation, but also stepped out of the room.

"I don't need help. Stiles can't read anymore, Scott's losing control and shifting a school in the middle of the day… and don't even get me started on how bad off Teagan is. They need the help, okay? Not me…"

Waving her hand in front of her and dismissing any trace of emotion she'd showed she spun around and quickly headed for the exit.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked, immediately feeling the mood shift when she raced out of the door.

Caught off guard by him being there she stated, "Yeah, um, Isaac just texted me back, he says Teagan's still doing okay."

"What's going on here?" She asked forcing a smile as she saw Stiles' dad was there.

"Hi Avery." He greeted, motioning for her to come closer.

As she walked up, he showed her a open case folder with the picture of the little girl, "Eight years ago, almost an entire family died in a car accident. One of the bodies, a young girl named Malia, was never found. There's enough evidence to have me thinking that a werewolf could have caused the accident possibly even dragged her body away." Turning his attention to Scott he continued, "If you possibly get a lock on the scent, somehow help me find her body it might provide a missing clue."

Avery and Stiles exchanged looks and he asked the same thing she was thinking, "But what if it was a werewolf?"

"Then there's somebody out there who murdered an entire family."

She nodded and kept her opinion to herself, which was even if a werewolf had caused the accident there wasn't much they could do about it now and the chances of finding the remains eight years after the accident were slim to none, even with a true alpha on the case.

"Yeah, of course." Scott agreed nodding.

When Avery looked over at him with raised eyebrows he pointed out, "We can always try."

"Is it okay if I sit this one out… I'm just really tired." She lied, the truth was she still wanted away from everyone else, she needed to be alone.

"We've got this… but are you sure you're okay?" Stiles asked concerned, taking a step closer to her.

But she backed up, right now she could feel the energy buzzing off of all three of them and every cell in her body was telling her to pull the energy from them, turn it into dark power.

Stumbling over another excuse as to why she had to go she called, "See you tomorrow." Over her shoulder and got into her car.

**~()~**

After a nice long, dinner and causal conversation, Paul went back into his office, looking over a case, while Teagan and Isaac went into the living room to watch a movie together.

Isaac had his arm around Teagan's shoulder's as she leaned against him while the movie played on. He wasn't paying attention to the movie though; instead he was texting with Avery, finding out what Deaton told them while she, Scott and Stiles went to him for advice. Deaton told them they had a door opened in their mind and needed to shut it, they just had no idea how to do that, causing him to sigh.

"Everything okay?" Teagan asked, as she raised her head to look at him.

"Yeah." Isaac answered, as he slipped his cell phone into his pocket and smiled down at her. He pushed a lock of hair from her face, then added, "Are you okay?"

"I'm good. Great even." Teagan said, as she reached up to lay a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him down toward her, pressing her lips against his. Pulling back after the kiss to add, "Everything is perfect."

She turned around to face him, then gave him another kiss before saying, "Thank you. Thank you for making this evening perfect." She grinned at him as she sat up on her knees and began to say in a low tone for only him to hear, "Now is the time I properly thank you for being the most amazing boyfriend any girl could ask for."

Isaac's eyebrows shot up in surprise, as she pulled the skirt up some to straddle his lap, and then laid her hands on either side of his face before leaning forward and giving him a soft kiss.

"What about your dad?" Isaac whispered against her lips.

"Can you hear him right now?" Teagan questioned.

Isaac closed his eyes, trying to concentrate and not think about the way his body was reacting to her and instead tried to listen for her father toward the back of the house.

"It sounds like he looking through papers, I'm assuming it's the case he is working on right now." He began to say. He listened in a little longer, then added, "And now he's on the phone, talking to one of his colleagues about the case. Sounds like it is going to be a long conversation."

"Good." Teagan said smiling, as she leaned forward to kiss him again.

He rested his hands on the small of her back, pulling her closer toward him, as the kiss began to heat up. She pushed the plaid shirt from his shoulders, then ran her hands down the soft black t-shirt, wishing it was off of him as well. She slipped her hands under his shirt, running her fingernails across his toned stomach, making him moan in her mouth.

"Are you trying to make your dad hate me again?" Isaac joked.

Teagan chuckled as she shook her head, then said, "No, but I guess you're right. Now is probably not the best time to get carried away."

"Well, we can get a little carried away." Isaac said back with a grin, as he leaned forward to press his lips against the front of her neck.

She softly gasped and giggled as his lips lightly kissed across her skin to the side of her neck. She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer, as he began to lick and nibble the side of her neck.

"Mmm. You still taste like chocolate." Isaac mumbled against her skin.

Teagan tugged on his hair, pulling him away from her neck, then pressed her lips against his, tasting the chocolate on his lips. She shifted around on his lap, causing him to groan and pull back from her.

"Okay, okay, okay, we got to stop." Isaac breathed out, as he held up his hands to stop her. "If we don't stop now, I won't be able to later and then we will get caught, making tonight pointless." He added.

"You're right." Teagan agreed, trying to catch her breath. She pressed her hands against his, intertwining their fingers together, as she softly said, "I wish we didn't have to stop though. I've never wanted anything as much as I want you right now."

"Me too." Isaac whispered back, as he brought one of her hands toward him. He lightly kissed the back of her hand, then turned it over to kiss the inside of her wrist. He glanced at the palm of her hand, seeing the band aid covering the cut from earlier that week.

"How's your hand?" He questioned, as he lightly ran his fingertip over it.

"Better." Teagan answered.

"You never did tell me the story about it. How it happened and all." He pointed out, as he looked up at her. Even though he knew the story now from her father, he wanted to see if she would tell him. If she would be honest with him.

"Yeah I did." Teagan said, then added, "I told you, it was an accident."

Isaac looked down with a sigh at hearing her lie. Even if he wasn't a werewolf and could hear her heart, he would still know she was lying to him by the look on her face. He just didn't understand why she was still lying. He thought they were past this after the other day.

Without a word, he patted the side of her leg, asking her to get up. She shot him a confused look, as she sat back down on the couch beside him. She was even more surprised as he went to stand up from the couch.

"Whoa, wait, where are you going? Don't leave." Teagan pleaded, as she reached out to grab his arm to stop him.

He turned to look at her, as he said back, "Then don't lie to me anymore. You promised Teagan, you promised you wouldn't keep anything from me again, that you will be honest with me."

"I know, but..."

"But what?" He questioned when she paused.

"Now that things are better. Now that things seem to be okay, I don't see any reason in telling you all the horrible details." Teagan pointed out.

"I need to know everything that is going on, everything that is happening to you, especially the horrible details." Isaac said back, as he laid a hand on the side of her face.

Teagan nodded her head in understanding. It's not that she wanted to lie or keep things from him, but she didn't want to worry him about something that was over now, but she did understand the need in him knowing, she would want to know if there was something going on with him.

"Okay." She softly said, then added, "I just don't want you to worry, cause I'm fine now."

"Are you?" He questioned, hoping it was true.

"Yeah." Teagan said with a nod. "I haven't had a nightmare or panic attack lately, I haven't seen or heard my mom since the night Jackson and I came to get you and Avery. Whatever was wrong, whatever was broken in me, I think it's better now. I really think I'm better."

"I hope so. I really hope so." Isaac said, as he laid his hand on the side of her neck and pulled her toward him. He laid back on the couch as she laid out beside him, resting her head on his chest and throwing her leg over him.

He held her close and kissed the top of her head, keeping his lips against her head. He closed his eyes, thinking back to the text from Avery and wondered if Teagan still had a door open in her mind, or maybe it had been closed now and she was okay, at least he hoped so.

He wasn't sure how long the two had laid there together, but when he opened his eyes he noticed the movie they were watching earlier was over, all that was on the TV now was static.

He shifted his eyes to the side when he heard someone enter the room. He opened his mouth to quickly apologize and explain when he saw it was her father walking over toward them.

Before he could say a word, Paul held up his hand to stop him, as he whispered out, "It's okay."

"I can carry her to bed if you want." Isaac offered, but was surprised when Paul shook his head.

"No, it's fine, leave her. This is most peaceful I've seen her look in a while." Paul stated, as they both looked at her, seeing the relaxed look on her face as she slept.

Paul grabbed the throw blanket from the back of the couch, using it to cover both Teagan and Isaac up. Once he was done, he looked back at Isaac, as he said, "You two get some sleep."

Isaac nodded his head, thanking him, as he watched him walk over toward the oversized armchair in the corner. Paul sat down, getting comfortable, as he prepared to sit there all night and watch over his daughter; hoping and praying another nightmare wouldn't hit. He hoped having Isaac with her would help her to have a restful night of sleep. He just hoped his little girl would be okay.

**~()~**

Over an hour later Avery turned onto a deserted street in an old industrial part of town, knowing it would be empty especially this late at night.

With all of her windows rolled down and deeply inhaling the cool night air, her foot pushed down on the gas pedal, her 65' Mustang gaining speed with every passing second.

Her heart raced and the adrenaline rush started to set in, a smile spread over her lips and for the first time in days she finally felt okay again. She wasn't thinking about the darkness she felt, her dead mom, the nightmares she'd been having, for those brief moments she didn't even think about Derek.

The pain and heartache was gone, all she could feel was the air whipping through her blond hair, the feeling of her tires treading over the pavement at an accelerated rate and the deep roaring of the engine as she pushed it even faster.

And for a few seconds she felt whole again, with the adrenaline surging through her veins, her world fell back on it's axis and she had thoughts of just racing right out of Beacon Hills, in those moments she felt high enough to believe she could run away from herself.

But the exhilaration was short lived, when the piercing sound of sirens filled her ears and her mirrors reflected the blue and red flashing lights behind her.

She looked around wondering if there was a side street she could take, possibly out run the cop trying to pull her over, but as she slowed down and the rush faded logic came back and she realized she could face jail time for that; which definitely wouldn't look good on a college application.

Reducing her speed, she took a few deep, calming breaths as she pulled to a stop on the side of the dark street.

"Please don't be Stiles' dad." She repeated the mantra under breath, how could she explain her way out of that one? Telling them she was too tired to help them then get caught speeding in the middle of the night.

Squinting to see past the lights in her mirrors she breathed a sigh of relief at seeing it wasn't Sheriff Stilinski approaching her car.

Looking down she pulled the top of her dress down a bit farther, revealing more of her cleavage as she readjusted her bra and quickly scrunched her windblown naturally wavy hair, hoping whatever officer it was she could easily flirt her way out of a ticket, something she'd done many times before.

Grabbing her purse from the passenger seat she quickly pulled her ID out and slid it in her bra.

"Hi there." A young officer she'd never seen before said as he leaned down and looked in her car shining a flashlight in her face.

"Hey… license and registration, right?" She greeted with a wide flirtatious smile.

"Actually, I was going to ask if you were suicidal?" He replied, as he shined his light in the back of her car looking for any open bottles or anything else.

"Excuse me?" Avery responded, thrown off by his statement.

"Could you step out of the car please?" His tone was polite, but she knew it was an order and not a question.

Stepping back he opened her door and she turned in her seat, purposely letting the fabric of her short dress slide up her outer thigh, before slowly placing one stiletto heeled foot out on the pavement and leaning forward as she stood up, opening up an obvious and now very easy glance down the top of her skin tight dress, a glance which he took before quickly looking away.

She smirked while he wasn't looking, and when he looked back at her she flashed him a genuine smile, he was a lot cuter that she expected.

Her dark lined eyes peered up at him from under her long, batting lashes as she spoke in a soft tone, making him have to lean in to hear her, "Deputy…" She looked back to his name pin on his uniform, "Deputy Parrish, you must be new here… I'd remember seeing that handsome face."

He raised his eyebrows at her as he replied, "You're saying you're familiar with the police force in Beacon County?"

Running her tongue over her bottom lip and readjusting her stance, causing him to look down to her lightly tanned, bare legs, she gave a teasing smile, "No, of course not."

Before she could say anything else he asked, "Do you have any idea how fast you we're going?"

With a laugh she shot him an innocent expression as she said, "I'm going to guess a little faster than the speed limit?"

"Ha, a lot faster than the posted limit." He said, his eyes traveling down to her exposed and pushed up cleavage before quickly snapping back up to her face.

Her lips pouted out slightly as she tried to hold in the laugh at watching him trying to not check her out and remain entirely professional but she knew he didn't stand a chance.

Shaking his head and refocusing on the issue at hand he said, "How about I run your license while you think about how the fine for reckless driving in California can range up to a thousand dollars?"

Turning around she leaned down in her car, resting one knee on her seat as she stretched over the console and got the registration out of her glove box, purposely arching her back as she did, she didn't even have to turn around to know he was watching her.

Climbing back out she tried to turn around but stepped wrong on a rock with her heel, gasping she started to fall but he quickly rushed forward and steadied her.

Being clumsy wasn't part of the plan, but as she looked down to his hands on her sides she smiled to herself knowing it had definitely worked in her favor.

"My hero…" she quietly said in a seductive tone as she turned to face him.

"Have you been drinking?" He questioned, again throwing her off her game.

"No." she asserted, but her little stumble didn't have him convinced of her denial.

Taking the paper from her hand he reminded her, "License?"

"Right here…" she breathed, as she reached in her bra and slowly pulled the plastic card and held it out, making him bring his hand to hers where she deliberately let her skin rub against his.

He started towards his patrol car before stopping mid turn and looking back at her, but whatever he was going to say he changed his mind.

A little while later he walked back with an unreadable expression which didn't calm her nerves at all.

Handing her back her registration which she tossed into her car, but noticed he hadn't given her –her ID back and asked, "Was there a problem?"

"A few of them." He clarified, as he pulled the plastic off a red tube and inserted it into a handheld device she hadn't seen before.

"What the hell is that?" She asked with a laugh.

"A Breathalyzer." He responded, commanding his eyes to stay on her face and not travel down, even though she kept arching forward, practically begging for him to look over her scantily dressed body.

"Isn't it standard procedure to have me walk in a straight line before asking me to blow that?" She asked with an arched eyebrow as she nodded to the machine.

"You couldn't even turn around without tripping in your shoes." He pointed out, glancing up at her as he prepared the machine.

When she heard it beep he said, "Okay."

"Hmm?" She hummed.

"It's ready." He pointed out holding a machine out.

Taking a few steps forward lazily swinging her hips she innocently said, "Well Deputy Parrish, I'm new at this… so I'm going to need you to walk me through it."

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying not to crack a smile as he said, "You have to blow a breath out into here." As he pointed to the red tube.

Stepping up to him she eyed the machine before looking back at him from under her lashes and brazenly asking, "So you want me to put it in my mouth?"

She watched as he seemed to not be breathing for a second before his lips curved up into a smile and he laughed, "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"So, close my lips around it and blow?" She continued.

Clearing his throat he nodded in response.

Her eyes traveled over his snug fitting police uniform as she willingly agreed, "If that's what you really want…"

The deputy followed her gaze to where she was looking below his belt and cleared his throat a little louder to get her attention back up and hide his embarrassment.

He held the machine out for her to take, but instead of taking it from him she gathered her hair in one hand and pulled it over the front of her left shoulder. She locked eyes with him as she lowered her parted lips around the tube and blew too gently for the machine to read.

The machine made a series of beeps to notify that it didn't collect a sample.

"Miss, I'm going to need you to blow a little harder." Parish said as his cheeks darkened slightly.

"I can't say I've ever been asked that before." Avery bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling or cracking up.

The deputy smiled coyly and said, "I've never had to ask anybody that."

Avery chuckled then took a deep breath and closed her lips around the tube as she blew with great force into the machine.

A few seconds later the machine clicked and he cleared his throat, stuttering out, "Okay… that's enough."

Standing up she wiped the edges of her lips to make sure her lips gloss wasn't smeared, as she continued to stare at him.

When a few seconds had passed she said, "Well?"

"What?" He questioned, seeming to have forgotten what was going on.

"It was good, right?" She exclaimed with a knowing smile as she nodded to the machine still in his hand.

"Oh." He said blinking a few times as he cleared his throat and looked down to the results being displayed, which confirmed her story, she hadn't been drinking.

"So it's settled, I'm not drunk driving… we can wrap this up, right? Call it a night?" She offered, hoping he was still stunned and would just let her go.

"I wish it was that simple, but when I ran your ID there was a problem… apparently the number is false and we have no record at all of an Annabel Dukate."

Avery's former smile fell as she realized she'd accidently given him her fake ID, and not her real license.

"There uh, there actually is an Annabel Dukate… she's my cat." Avery admitted as she reached back into her car and pulled out her real ID handing it to him, this time as he pulled it away she caressed the back of his hand with her fingertips.

"Avery Dukate?"

"Guilty." She flashed him another smile.

"Of more than just speeding." He said, but his former professional expression faded some, and his tone was much more friendly.

"Girls just wanna have fun." She joked with a laugh, knowing her cover was blown and now he also knew she was a teenager, which was the next thing he point out.

"And you're 16?" This time he wasn't able to stop his eyes from dropping back to her curves on display and being hugged almost uncomfortably tight in the little black dress.

"For a few more months…"

When he didn't responded she sighed.

"Am I getting a ticket?" She finally asked, feeling like the entire moment was over and she'd lost.

"Reckless driving is a misdemeanor… you could be looking at possible jail time." His tone was still friendly, and it sounded more like he was just sharing information instead of threatening her.

Seeing his eyes drift down again she regained her confidence, realizing she could still get out of this situation.

"Alright." She agreed holding out her arms, "It's not my first time being handcuffed… well, it will be my first time in cuffs out of my bedroom, but you get the idea. I prefer the fuzzy ones, I don't suppose those come standard..."

His eyes locked with hers before he smiled again and looked down to the pavement between them, knowing she wasn't going to let up at all.

"Let's make a deal. You start being honest with me and I'll think about letting you off with just a ticket." His eyes moved back up her body to her face as she nodded in agreement.

"Why were you driving like that?"

Taking a deep breath she swallowed hard and started to explain, "Have you ever been in a really bad situation, been through something so traumatic that it's like a ball and chain you carry around every single day?"

"I do." He admitted, watching her closer than before.

"Well, I can guarantee whatever you think you've been through is nothing compared to what I've seen…"

But he cut her off, "I'm ex-military."

Nodding she frowned as she tried to explain, "What I'm saying is that… for those few seconds, those moments that I was flying down the hi-way, I felt… free again, something I haven't felt in a while."

Raising her head she looked at him and he stared back at her, their eyes locking for a while before he said, "It was probably the adrenaline, you were going so fast that if you'd wrecked… there's no way you would have made it."

She nodded as she crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. Parrish watched her intently, noticing for the first time since he'd pulled her over that she seemed to let go of her confidence and appear vulnerable.

It was a look that he couldn't throw the book at, or even give her a ticket. She seemed lost, in more than one way.

"Well." He said, looking between her two IDs in his hand, clearing his throat as he handed her –her ID back, "Seeing that it's a school night and you're still in high school… you'd better head home."

"Seriously?" she asked thinking how strange it was that after all of her over the top flirting, all it took was the truth to get her out of a ticket or an arrest.

"Have a good night, Avery. And no more of this, okay? Try skydiving or something." He laughed as he pointed to her car.

"I already did." She said, with an almost hopeless laugh.

She watched as he headed back to his car, where he stopped as he was opening his door to look back at her for a few moments before getting into his patrol car and waiting until she'd driven off safely before he left the scene.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN – I really hope you guy all liked the chapter! ^_^ Thank you for reading.**

**There are links on Miss E Charlotte's Tumblr, Polyvore and other accounts on her profile. I also have my links up on mine as well.**

**We always love hearing from our readers, so it would be great and we'd really appreciate it if you'd take a few moments to leave a review. **


	7. A Messy Breakfast

**Chapter 7 – A Messy Breakfast**

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><p>The next morning, Teagan took a deep breath and slowly released it raising her eyebrows in confusion when she felt the pillow she was laying on breathing along with her. She opened her eyes, and softly smiled when she realized it wasn't a pillow at all; it was Isaac.<p>

The two had fallen asleep on the couch the night before, she was cuddled against him with her head on his chest, as he held her close against him as if his presence alone could protect her.

She raised her head to look at him, the smile on her face widened when she saw he was awake and watching her. He pushed a lock of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear, as he said, "Morning, beautiful."

"Good morning." Teagan said back. "You know, I can really get use to this." She added.

"Me too. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my girl get a full night of sleep with no nightmares." Isaac said back, assuming that is what she meant.

"No, well, I mean, yeah… but I mean, waking up with you. I love waking up to your face, I love saying good morning to you. I want all my days to start like that." She explained.

"They will." Isaac said, as he lightly stroked her cheek. "Our whole life is going to be like that. I promise."

"I love you." Teagan mouthed before leaning forward and pressing her lips against his for a tender good morning kiss.

He cupped her cheek, as he deepened the kiss, wishing this moment never had to end. These were the moment he cherished. The ones when the world slowed down, giving them a chance to just be together and not have to worry about alphas, rouge hunters, murders, realistic nightmares or any of that. These were the moments where they could just be a normal boy and a normal girl in love.

Teagan felt him slip a hand under her shirt causing her to moan, as he caressed her skin.

Any little touch from him gave her goosebumps and made her crave more, but being out in the open like they were, was probably not the best time to get carried away.

As much as she hated to do it, she pulled back then said,"We should probably stop. My dad could walk in at any minute."

"Your dad already left for work." Isaac pointed out, as he laid his hand on the side of her neck, bringing her back toward him to capture her lips again.

"Well in that case..." Teagan began to say, as she threw her leg over him, laying on top of him, as the two began to kiss again.

Before things could go too far, they heard Aspen barking causing them to pull apart with a laugh, as she said,"Well so much for that."

When the white dog barked again, the two turned to see him standing in the doorway, excitedly moving back and forth, as if he was doing a little dance, which Teagan knew meant he needed to go.

"He needs to be let out." She pointed out as she regrettably got off of him and stood up from the couch, before adding, "I should take him out, then I need to get ready for school."  
>"Go get ready." Isaac said, as he stood up. "I'll take him."<p>

"Really? Thanks." Teagan said, as she gave him a quick kiss. "When you're done, you should join me." She added, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

She shot him a teasing smile, "I mean, you are always the one saying we need to save water and shower together…"

Isaac groaned at the idea, as he laid his hands on her hips, then said, "That is tempting, very tempting, but you're the one who is always saying how important school is. If we get in that shower together, I can promise you, we won't make it to school today."

Teagan innocently shrugged, then suggested, "Maybe we shouldn't go then."

"Really?" Isaac asked surprised.

"I'm pretty much caught up on my school work, and I don't have any tests today."

Teagan explained. "I'm not going crazy anymore. I'm sleeping all night now, and I'm with the boy I love. That's all I need… maybe we should take a break from the world and just be together today." She added.

"I'll go where ever you go, babe." Isaac replied, as he laid a hand on the side of her face. "If you want to go to school, or hide out here or even drive around all day, I'm there, whatever you want to do."

"I just want to be with you." She whispered.

He laid his other hand on the side of her neck, pulling her toward him to softly kiss her lips. He didn't care where they went or what they did, like her –he just wanted to be with her.

When they heard a whining noise from the doorway, they both looked to see Aspen sitting there, still waiting to be taken out. Isaac chuckled as he kissed her forehead, then said, "I better take him out."

"Okay." Teagan whispered, shooting him a grin, as she added, "Kiss you soon."

Isaac laughed again as he said, "Kiss you soon."

**~()~**

Pulling open the front door Avery looked out frowning when she didn't see anything, moments ago she could have sworn there were several loud knocks on the door. But she didn't see anyone outside and her dad had already left for work that day.

Heading down the hallway she then looked around her kitchen with a small sigh, trying to decide if she was hungry enough to grab something to eat or if she should just leave for school.

Drumming her fingernails on the counter she looked at the early morning time on the microwave display, but her attention was quickly diverted when she heard the same loud knocking noise, but this time it was in the same room.

Spinning around she surveyed the large open room, frowning at the unexplainable noise.

As she looked back over her shoulder a small gasp slid from her lips as she realized almost fifteen minutes had passed since she'd last looked at the time.

With a loud dramatic groan she folded her arms on the counter and dropped her head on them, normally when she lost time it was because she was drunk or terribly hungover, but the night before she hadn't even had one drink and there was seemingly no reason for her to be losing time.

"Beacon County sheriff's department!"

With a stunned expression Avery raised her head just in time to see Deputy Parrish walking into the room with his gun drawn.

"Parrish…" Avery barely managed a whisper as she watched him breathe a sigh of relief and lower his gun, looking around the room before tucking it away in his holster.

Her gaze moved past him where she saw her cat scrambling to get up on top of the expensive china cabinet behind him.

He turned his head as well to see the cause of the noise.

"What the hell is going on?" Avery yelled, not understanding anything that was happening.

Looking over to his shoulder he looked up to where Avery's cat, Annabel Lee was perched on the tall wooden structure, her bright green eyes wide as she looked around alert.

Then with a serious expression he looked back and Avery, and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Well, to be honest I'm a little shocked… you just came walking into my house with your gun out." Her face twisted with confusion as she spoke, her mouth slightly hung open.

Giving her a confused expression of his own he said, "The front door was wide open… I saw your cat running out in the road and when I got out of my car, I could hear you screaming."

"I wasn't screaming." She argued, but she swallowed hard afraid that she might have been. In all honesty she had no recollection of the last fifteen or so minutes.

"Someone was." He argued back, sure of what he'd heard.

With an arched eyebrow she asked, "Are you saying I'm a screamer… and how would you know? Been spying on me?"

Closing his eyes for a second and letting out an amused sigh he said, "I'm being serious, are you alright?"

Avery's face showed a hint of her fear as she thought to herself that she really didn't know she was alright, she was losing time with no explanation and her nightmares were getting worse.

Quickly recovering she flashed a smile and leaned over the counter, revealing how deep the v-neck cut of her shirt was, as she suavely said, "You probably heard the TV or something."

Before he could point out there wasn't a TV playing, she leaned forward even more, smirking when his eyes feel briefly to her exposed cleavage before his gaze snapped back up, mentally kicking himself for not having the restraint to not look down.

But when he caught a glimpse of her smile, he knew that –she knew exactly what she was doing to him, and obviously she was thrilled it was working.

Before he could say anything else, he let out a groan of pain as Annabel jumped from the cabinet and landed on his shoulder.

Reaching up he tried to get the cat off of him, but she'd just dig her claws back in and hold on tighter to him.

With a small laugh she crossed the room and helped him pull her cat from it's grip on his uniform.

"Sorry about that… she's clingy." Avery apologized, as she crossed the room and sat her down in a chair at the kitchen island.

Turning she made it obvious she was checking him out as she looked him over in the bright morning light, and smiled to herself. He was much cuter than she'd even thought the night before, from what she could tell from headlights and the flashlight being aimed in her eyes.

"Well, at least she's got good taste." Avery teased with a wide smile, forcing the earlier events from the morning out of her head, for a few moments at least she had a distraction from her thoughts.

He tried to hold back a smile but she saw right through it as he also looked her over in the lighting, his eyes drifting from her skin tight, plunging v-neck silk tank top, and tight jean shorts with black lace trim.

"So…" She purred with a sultry smile as she leaned one her elbows behind her on the kitchen island, arching her back as she spoke, "Deputy Parrish… what brings you here? Miss me?"

"I needed to see you're ID again." He stated, walking up to her. His eyes traveling over her body and back to her face, thinking she looked even better than he remembered.

With a small sigh she reached into her purse and pulled the card out and handed it to him without even looking at it.

"You know… my phone number isn't on there. That's something you have to get from me." She teased, then her smile fell as she saw him take her ID and hand her one he pulled from his pocket.

Her eyes flashed up to his face when she felt his hand brush against hers during the trade.

Their eyes met for a few brief seconds before she looked down to see he'd handed her seeing it was her drivers license.

"I gave you the wrong one last night." He explained, causing her to roll her eyes as she said, "And now you're holding onto my fake ID?"

"Legally, I can't let you keep it." He reminded her of the law.

"Or… you gave me the wrong one on purpose, you know – so you'd have an excuse to come see me."

With a smile he leaned in slightly as he said, "Have a good day, Miss Dukate."

Running her tongue over her unglossed top lip she smiled and shook her head as she watched him leave without looking back at her. As he made his way back out of the large house he looked around letting out a deep breath as he thought no wonder she didn't seem intimidated by the idea of a $1000 fine for reckless driving.

**~()~**

While Isaac took Aspen out, Teagan made her way upstairs to her room, feeling like she was floating on air. Things were getting better, after two full nights of peaceful sleep she was convinced the nightmares and hallucinations were over.

Usually by now something would have happened, either she would have woke up screaming or she would have experienced something while awake, but everything was normal and most important; she was back to feeling normal.

She felt like herself, her mind was clearer and everything made sense again. She even went as far as pinching herself to make sure this moment was real and not one big trick, but after feeling a bit of pain from it; she rubbed her arm and realized this was real.

Everything was real and she was okay.

She took a quick shower, then planned to change into something to lounge around the house in until she checked her phone and saw she had a text from Stiles, asking her to meet up with them at school.

Teagan sighed, as she sat her phone down, then walked into the closet to grab a set of clothes for school. Looked like their break from the world was over before it even started.

Once she was dressed, she made her way downstairs, and headed for the kitchen when she smelled something good coming from it. She walked into the room and smiled when she saw Isaac standing in front of the stove cooking.

She leaned against the door frame and watched him feeling a fluttering in her stomach at seeing how comfortable he was in her kitchen, it was almost like he belonged there.

She couldn't help but imagine this was how their future would look like; being married, having breakfast together, the normal things in life.

Isaac, hearing her heart beat turned his head to smile at her, as he said, "Hey."

"Hey." Teagan said back, as she walked further into the room. She came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his middle then leaned up to kiss his cheek –asking, "What are you cooking?"

"French toast." He answered.

"I love french toast." Teagan exclaimed happily.

"You love every breakfast food." Isaac pointed out, causing her to laugh because they both knew it was true. "But I went with french toast cause I heard you mumbling about it in your sleep last night."

"No I didn't." Teagan argued with a laugh, as she took a step back from him.

"Yeah you did." Isaac said back, as he turned his head to watch her walk over toward the cabinet and take out two glasses. He watched her fill both glasses with orange juice, then walked over to the small table on the side to set the glasses down.

Teagan smiled seeing a vase in the middle of the table with a single wild flower in it for the first time. Lightly toughing the bright petals, she looked over at him to see he was also watching her.

"Where did this come from?" She questioned.

"I found it outside." Isaac answered. "Like it?" He questioned.

"Love it." Teagan answered flashing him a smile.

Isaac smiled back, then turned his head back toward the stove to check on the food. Once he was sure he wasn't burning anything, he turned his head to look at her again as he said, "So, I was thinking we would eat breakfast, then maybe watch a movie or something. Then later we could go for a drive if you wanted, maybe hit your favorite Chinese place for lunch?"

Teagan sighed, realizing that sounded perfect but remembered the text she got earlier from Stiles. She walked over to Isaac and hopped up to sit on the counter beside him, as she declined,"Unfortunately that's going to have to wait, we have to go to school."

When he shot her a confused look, she continued, "I got a text from Stiles, he and Scott wants us all to meet with them before class. Something about a coyote? I don't know… most of the time his texts don't make any sense."

"It's okay." Isaac said, seeing that she felt bad for cancelling their day of relaxation.

"No it's not –this is what I want." Teagan said, as she reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder, "I wanted breakfast with you, I wanted to lay around and watch TV with you, I wanted to go for a drive and eat too much Chinese food. I wanted a day of just you and me."

Isaac turned the stove off setting the food aside, as he walked to stand in front of her. He laid his hands on her knees, parting them to step closer to her and then wrapped his arms around her, before saying, "We can have that another day. We got a lifetime of just you and me ahead of us."

"I just want one day with you, Isaac. One day when we are not in danger, when our friends and family are safe. Just one day of being normal."

He glanced over at the food for a moment before looking back at her, as he lowered his arms to rest on her back side –pulling her toward him, he assured her,"This won't be the last time I cook you breakfast. One day, I'm going to start each day by waking up beside you and tell you how much I love you, then I'll cook you breakfast. We'll spend every meal and every waking moment together. That is our future Teagan –that will be our life, and it will be normal. I've never felt more normal than when I am with you."

Teagan smiled at his words, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, then said, "I can't wait to spend forever with you."

"Me too." Isaac said back, as he ran a hand up her side and up to her face, cupping her cheek before he leaned forward to kiss her, the food he just prepared was quickly forgotten as they decided to spend their breakfast together a different way.

**~()~**

A few minutes later Avery pulled the front door shut to the house, and double checked to make sure it was locked so her cat wouldn't escape again.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a patrol car parked off the side of her street, smirking to herself she unlocked her car door and got inside, adjusting her rearview mirror she saw Parrish sitting in his car, probably making sure she left safe considering he'd heard her screaming for no reason.

As she tried to start the car she groaned when the engine wouldn't turn over. "No, no, no!" She muttered knowing it was too late to call any of her friends for a ride to school.

Getting out of her car she called her dad who told her he was calling their mechanic to come by the house and take a look at it.

Adjusting her shirt and shorts she gathered her bags and walked towards where the deputy was parked, with a smile as she called out, "You really are spying on me."

Turning his head and looking of his open window he dismissed the accusation, "I was just finishing up some last minute paperwork."

She looked to see he had been writing on a paper in an open folder against his steering wheel.

"In front of my house?" She asked with suspicion in her tone.

"It's a quiet street." He nonchalantly responded, trying not to look at her as she leaned down some to see in his car better, but she was also trying to get him to look down her shirt again.

Standing back up, mentally applauding his attempt to not look at her she nodded, "Yeah, stays pretty quiet around here… except for when I throw a party."

He glanced over at her to see her proudly smirking.

When he looked away again, she sighed and came clean, "My car won't start."

Closing the folder and tucking the pen back in his pocket he offered, "I could look at it."

"Uh, no you wont." She quickly asserted as she crossed her arms over her chest and shot him a serious look. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was someone she didn't know or trust messing with her car.

Starting to open his door he stopped and looked at her confused.

"You can look at it… but admiring it from here. Don't touch it." She said then flipped her hair over her should and added, "Plus, my car isn't the one who needs to be jumped…"

Lowering his head to hide his smile, he pulled the door shut and started to pick the folder back up but she teased, "Do I make you nervous… I've been told I can be a little forward."

"Just a little?" He questioned, trying to remind himself that she was a teenager.

She watched as he picked up a bottle of water and started to take a drink before biting down on her bottom lip she held back a laugh and she finally said, "Well seeing as how my sexual energy is too much for you handle… let's keep this professional, shall we?"

Not able to hold in her laugh as his eyes widened and he almost spit out the drink of water, she continued, "I need a ride…" Pausing for effect she continued, "To school, of course."

"Uh –I don't know…" He coughed out after nearly choking on his drink of water.

When he turned to look at, her naturally full lips looked ever bigger as she pouted, "My friends are already in class, my dad is gone at work…"

Then she learned forward slightly with her hands on her hips, "And if a certain deputy hadn't came barging into my house this morning this morning… I would have had time to call someone for a ride."

Looking at her with a smile he questioned, "So, naturally this is all my fault?"

Holding her hands up and acting innocent, she smiled, "Your words, not mine… but it's okay, I'll just walk there… navigate these dangerous Beacon Hills streets by myself."

He watched as she turned and slowly started to walk away, both of them knowing she was far more than comfortable walk away from the school, with a sigh he leaned back in his drivers seat and watched to see if she was really going to keep the act up that she was walking to school.

Checking the time on his phone he rubbed his hand over his tired face and thought of how he needed to go home and try to get some sleep before his next shift, he felt like he'd been working around the clock.

Blinking his eyes in the morning sun he realized she was gone. He'd fully expected her to come back, and demand he give her a ride to school, but she hadn't.

Starting his car he drove off, watching the sidewalks as he went looking for a sign of her. The sad part about what she'd said was she was right, by all accounts Beacon Hills looked like a small, safe town but he knew otherwise. The only reason he'd gotten the job there was because there we many officer fatalities, not to mention all the ones who had quit and left town.

As he pulled on to the next street he stopped as he saw Avery standing on the side of the road with her arms crossed over her chest, smirking.

"And they say chivalry is dead." She cooed flashing him a flirtatious smiled as she crossed the street and got into the passenger seat of his car.

Looking over at him, their eyes locked and she saw they were a bright shade of green, and a small smile spread over lips.

"You knew I was going to come for you." He realized, knowing he'd played right into her game, giving her exactly what she wanted.

"Well, Deputy…" She purred leaning over as she continued, "I wanted you to come after me… and I always get what I want."

Her breath tickled his ear as she spoke, and he closed his eyes holding his breath for a second before he, put the car into drive and started towards the school, eyeing her from the corner of his eye as she pulled a compact from her purse and checked her make up.

"I'm hungry… are you hungry?" She finally asked. School was the last place she wanted to be.

"I'm tired… and trying to get you to school." He reminded her.

"Yeah, and now I owe you one… so I'll buy breakfast." She offered, smiling widely.

When he didn't respond she dramatically sighed, "You can't just send me to school hungry… we don't have lunch for hours!"

Determined to not give in he shook his head back and forth, "Avery, I really don't think that's a good idea."

"Come on, I know this great little place… the food is better than homemade. And you were working all night, you can't honestly say you're not hungry."

Almost on cue, he felt the hunger pains in his stomach, she was right. And after a little more thought, he realized there probably wasn't anything in his refrigerator but some left over pizza, and that didn't sound appealing.

"It's just breakfast." She innocently reasoned, trying to get him to give him. She loved when people caved and she got her way.

"And this started as _just_ a ride to school." He reminded her, but she could tell from his tone he was giving in to her.

Pulling to a stop a stop sign, he looked over at her and sighed, "Which way?"

"Left." She instructed with a wide smile.

Glancing over at her he thought of how every time he'd seen her, she'd been so dressed up, and he'd saw the huge house she lived in which made wonder what kind of place they were going to eat at.

"This is it!" she exclaimed excitedly as she pointed to a small white washed brick building with a hand written chalk board out front revealing the specials for the day.

"Here?" He asked not able to hide his surprise, as he pulled to a stop and took his seatbelt off.

"Yes!" She excitedly exclaimed.

"Pammy's Pancake Palace?" He read the sigh, his voice almost making it sound like a joke.

"Don't let the building or the name fool you." She flashed him a smile as she got out of the car and headed to the building, leaving him standing next to the car.

As he walked over the uneven gravel parking lot towards the doors that were propped open with coffee cans full of rocks, he smiled to himself at the comfortable feeling of the small, family owned restaurant.

Walking through the open doors he met up with Avery who was waiting for him just inside.

"Come on, I said I'm starving!" she reminded him as she grabbed his arm and pulled him right past the '_Please wait to be seated'_ sign. He glanced at the sign but allowed her to lead him to a small table.

As they sat down he glanced around, and saw there were several tables with people already eating but no one else seemed to be under 60. The walls were wood paneling with old black photos on the walls, the atmosphere was calm and he gladly took a deep breath, savoring the delicious scents of cooking food in the air.

"What?" She asked with a small laugh, at seeing his eyes scanning the entire seating area.

"I'm… surprised, to say the least." He admitted with a smile as he returned a wave from an older man eating breakfast with his wife from across the small room.

"Aren't they cute?" Avery cooed, "They've been married for almost 50 years."

Parrish turned his head and looked at her as he said, "You really do eat breakfast here a lot, don't you?"

"Yeah… typically I don't hit the strip clubs for chicken wings and fries until after school gets out." She joked, feeling much better than she had earlier that day. There was just something about him that made her feel at ease.

He laughed, causing her to also crack a smile as she found herself in a surprisingly positive mood after the events of earlier in the day.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, I must not have heard you come in." A short older woman who looked to be in late 40's said as she scrambled to their table with a small notepad in hand.

Parrish opened his mouth to assure it was okay that they hadn't been waiting long, but Avery rolled her head to face the waitress as she responded, "Uh, yeah... you should be sorry, some business you're running here."

His jaw dropped as he looked back at her, but the waitress didn't miss a beat as she put her hands on her hips and said, "Alright then, you can go find somewhere else to eat that's going to melt chocolate chips for you to put on pancakes because you don't like syrup." Pausing for a moment she continued, "You know how hard it is to wash the chocolate off the plates?"

At the exact same moment both women started laughing, as Avery greeted, "Morning Pam."

"Where have you been?" Pam asked her with a warm smile.

Avery's eyes veered down to the table as she lied, "I've just been really busy with school."

In reality, she'd been far too hung-over almost every morning to think about eating anything before school.

Pam started to say something but then looked over to see the deputy watching them both, trying to hold in a laugh at how shocked his face must have looked when Avery insulted their waitress.

"And… who is this?" Pam questioned, raising her eyebrows at Avery, the teenager had been eating there for years and never once brought a guy in there with her.

"This is Deputy Parrish." Avery introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Pam." She said extending an arm over the table.

Smiling and politely shaking her hand, he said, "Jordan, and it's nice to meet you too."

After writing down their orders, Pam headed back to the kitchen leaving the pair alone.

"You're going to love the food, I was serious… just like homemade." She beamed a smile as she took a drink of her water.

"It has to be better than the middle of the night fast food I've been living off of."

Avery nodded in agreement, she knew exactly what that was like. She'd eat dinner with Teagan and her parents before they moved away, but after they were gone she was on a steady diet of pizza and take out.

"So…" She breathed in, "Did you just move here?"

Nodding he said, "A little over a month ago."

Absent mindely, stirring the ice cubes around in her glass of water she asked, "Why Beacon Hills out of all places?

Glancing down to the table he gave a small shrug, "I just felt drawn here… plus there were a lot of openings at the station."

They made small talk for a while as they ate their breakfast, then she looked at him with a serious expression and asked, "Why were you parked outside of my house?"

He opened his mouth, but she cut him off, "And don't give me the BS paper work excuse."

Wiping his mouth with a napkin he looked at her and admitted, "I might have been making sure you left safety."

"You were worried about me?" She teased with a playful smile, but he didn't return the lighthearted tone as he nodded, "I heard you screaming…"

"Maybe I saw a spider…"

With an arched eyebrow he reminded her of an earlier excuse, "I thought you said it wasn't you."

Her smiled dropped and he watched as she suddenly seemed a million miles away from the table and him. Her mind recalled how she had checked outside after hearing a knock, but she knew she'd shut the door… then he'd came by and found Annabel outside in the street. What if someone had hit and killed her cat? All because she apparently didn't get the door shut. Even so, she was positive that she wouldn't have left the door wide open, as he claimed to have found it.

Coming back to reality she saw Parrish nodding in thanks as Pam laid their bill face down on the table.

He hadn't said anything during the time she'd been spacing out, but as a test to see if she had been paying attention he said, "Right?"

Looking at him her eyebrows pushed together for a moment before she displayed a wide smile and nodded, "Of course."

He looked down and frowned to himself, wondering what was troubling the blonde teenager so much, he didn't know what it was but obvious that her light brown eyes had seen more than anyone her age should have too.

"Well?" She asked, seeming completely collected and confident.

"What?" He questioned, giving her a look full of concern.

Raising her eyebrows she nodded to the bill and said, "Aren't you going to pay so we can leave?"

"Our deal was you were buying." He reminded her, his smile slowly returning.

Playfully she taunted, "Yeah… but you're the guy."

Wanting her to be the same smiling, seemingly happy girl he'd been talking too before she spaced out, he joked back, "Who's living off a police salary…. You're the one who wasn't even concerned about a $1000 fine!"

He smiled at the sound of her laughter as she nodded and picked the bill and grabbed her purse as she said, "What do you think I'm running here, a charity?"

Drinking down the last of his coffee and hoping it gave him the strength to get through the day, considering he had picked up a shift that night and he didn't have too long before he had to be back at work, he stood up and scooted his chair in.

As he looked up he saw Avery tucking a card back in her wallet before picking up a large Styrofoam coffee cup and a white paper bag with food.

"What's that for?" he asked, quickening his pace to catch up with her as she headed for the door without coming back to the table for him.

Once they were outside she spun and faced him, "Please, I'm Avery Dukate… you really think I'm going to eat school food when lunch time rolls around?"

He laughed and shook his head at her, and then said, "Alright, I need to get you to school… I have less than 6 hours before I have to be back at work."

"Fine, to the car then." She said, nodding for him to go on.

He turned and started to walk back, but stopped when he realized she wasn't with him, turning around he saw she had been walking the opposite direction and was now approaching a an old wood bench at the edge a small park next to the restaurant.

He sighed with frustration, he couldn't have made it any clearer that he was tired and not looking forward to trying work after no sleep, but just as he opened his mouth yell for her to come back, he saw her wake someone up who was sleeping on the bench.

Slowly an elderly man sat up and he could see Avery talking as she handed him the bag of food and coffee. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but he could see her smiling at the man.

She didn't see Parrish was watching her as she carefully maneuvered the uneven ground, tree roots and small holes through the grass in her heels.

Once she was back on the gravel she looked up and almost jumped when she saw him watching her.

Feeling like she owed him an explanation she looked over shoulder and quietly said, "His name is Herman… he served in Vietnam, or World War 2. I'm not sure which one, he's kind of confused." She frowned as he took a deep breath and continued, "I don't think anyone who's fought for our country should go hungry."

With those words she walked past him towards the car, adjusting her purse strap on her shoulder as she went.

He looked back over to where the older man was sitting and now eating a full breakfast with hot coffee, and he knew with the way Pam had –had her to go bag ready that this wasn't the first time she'd given the homeless man food.

"Are you coming!" Avery yelled impatiently, as she tugged on the door hand to the locked car. A few minutes ago she wasn't concerned about time, but now she realized how long breakfast had taken and she was close to missing an important test in her next class, she couldn't very well copy Lydia's answers from beside her if she wasn't there to do so.

Parrish nodded, looking down to gravel as he smiled at how different Avery truly was from how he'd thought she'd be after her behavior from the night before. In fact, she was different from anyone that he'd ever met. And there was just something about her he was drawn too, just like how he was drawn to the town. He couldn't describe or pinpoint it, but he felt a pull.

As they neared the street the school was on, she looked over at him. Wondering why'd he'd been so quiet since they left the restaurant, she turned in her seat and looked at him.

Pulling to a stop at a red light he looked back over at her and smiled warmly. Raising her eyebrows she turned back and faced the front of the car, wondering why he was looking at her like that. Trying to catch a glimpse down her shirt or seeing how tight her jeans were when she walks away, sure. That's what guys normally did. But he was sitting there smiling at her like they had known each other for years.

When she looked ahead without returning the smile a look of confusion spread over his face, every other time he'd look at her she was smirking or smiling to flirt with him. This time she just looked away without a second glance.

"Umm, Parrish?"

"Yeah?" He questioned.

"The light went from red to green –then back to red, but I don't see any other cars and you're cop, so can you just run the red light?"

Shaking his head at himself he looked at the red light and in the rearview mirror at the irritated woman in the car behind them as he said, "Yeah, I'll go."

She smiled until he finished his sentence, "When the light turns green."

Smirking she pointed out, "I would have ran the light."

As he drove he glanced over at her again, he wasn't sure what she was thinking, and reading her was next to impossible.

"And I would have had to give you a ticket." He finally responded as he pulled up to the walkway in front of the school.

"No you wouldn't have." She laughed as she opened the door and gathered her purse and school bag.

"It's a traffic violation." He asserted still trying to figure out what she was thinking.

Rolling her eyes she said, "If you didn't give me a ticket for speeding, you wouldn't give me a ticket for running a red light!

Shutting the door she leaned into the open window and arched a brow as she said, "And the next time you try to play tough cop with me, it better involve a bed and a pair of fuzzy handcuffs."

Standing up she headed into the school, not even looking back to see his shocked expression or see if he was watching her hips sway as she went, because she already knew his eyes were on her.

Pulling open the door she walked into the school with a confident smirk on her face, thankful when the bell ran and students started to pour out of their classrooms, she'd made it time for her next class too.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- I really hope you all liked the chapter. ^_^ Thank you so much for reading!**


	8. Tuer ou être tué

**Chapter 8 - Tuer ou être tué**

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><p>After a long breakfast together, Teagan and Isaac finally arrived at school. She didn't even stop by her locker, the two were already running late to meet the others. They walked into Mr. Yukimura class, seeing their friends; Stiles, Scott, Allison and Avery, huddled together and quietly talking.<p>

"Hey! What did we miss?" Teagan breathed out, as she and Isaac came up behind the group.

"A lot." Stiles answered, then added, "Where have you two been?"

"We got caught up." Isaac said vaguely, as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's waist.

"With what?" Stiles asked. He looked between then two, then looked back at Teagan, as he lowered his eyebrows and questioned ,"And what is in your hair?"

"What?" Teagan asked confused, as she ran a hand through it.

Avery chuckled as she reached up and pulled a piece of food from her hair. "Is that french toast?" Scott questioned, as he looked at the food in Avery's hand.

"Well, guess we know what took you two so long now." Avery joked.

"What? A cooking accident?" Scott questioned.

"Or something like that." Allison added, as she smiled over at an embarrassed Teagan.

Isaac ran a hand up her back to comfort her, then laid it on the back of her neck, giving her a quick massage before pulling her toward him to kiss the side of her head with a chuckle. He didn't mind that much if they knew what they did before school, but he knew that kind of stuff embarrassed her.

"So back to why we are here. Something to do with a coyote?" Isaac questioned, as he looked at the group in front of him.

Stiles nodded his head as he quickly informed them of the night before, starting with his dad coming to them for help. Then Scott spoke up, explaining what happened in the woods that night. The things they found while trying to track the coyote.

While Scott was talking, Stiles pulled out a tablet pulling up the location from the woods, as they tried to work out a plan on how to track her. He held it out for the others to see, as he said, "Here's where we found the den… it's right in the middle of the hiking trails."

Allison took it from his hands, taking a closer look as she said, "Well, that could narrow it down. Coyotes travel in fixed trails."

"So if stick to the trails we should find her?" Avery questioned.

"What about her den? Can't we just wait for her there?" Teagan asked.

"Stiles and I were in her den. Our scent is in it now, I don't think she'll come back to it." Scott pointed out.

"He's right." Allison said, then added, "Besides coyotes don't like wolves. And they're really smart, if they don't want to be heard, they actually walk on their toes."

"Coyotes tip-toe?" Stiles questioned.

"They tip-toe." Allison said with a sigh at having to repeat herself.

"Learn something new everyday." Isaac mumbled to no one in particular.

Before anyone could say anything else, the bell rang, signaling the start of class and meaning their meeting was over and half of them had to leave the classroom to go to their own classes.

"I got to go, but send me the pinned location." Allison called out as she handed Stiles back his tablet, before rushing out of the classroom.

"Send us those locations too." Teagan said, referring to herself and Isaac. "Maybe if we all split up or something, we will cover more of the woods and be able to find her." She suggested.

"We can start our search after school." Avery added.

"Sounds good." Scott said, as Stiles nodded in agreement.

Teagan called out a quick bye, as she and Isaac began to leave the room, until Avery called out to her. Isaac gave her hand a squeeze, then left the room to wait for her in the hallway and give the friends a moment alone.

"Experimenting with food I see. How was it?" Avery teased, as she smiled at her best friend. She could tell by the look on her best friend's face that she and Isaac had a little fun before coming to school. She could also tell she was getting more sleep, which made her happy to see.

"I've got to get to class." Teagan said with a grin on her face. No matter how much she tried, she could not stop smiling.

"I'm going to take that as it was great." Avery said back.

"I got to go, A. I'll talk to you later." Teagan said, as she turned around to walk away.

"Yes you will! I want details!" Avery called out.

"Bye Avery!" Teagan yelled back, as she walked out of the classroom to meet back up with Isaac.

When Teagan made it out into the hallway, she saw Isaac leaning against a bank of lockers, a cocky grin on his face when he saw her.

"Have fun talking about our sex life?" He teased, as she came to a stop in front of him.

Teagan's eyes widen, as she glanced around, making sure no one had overheard him. The last thing she wanted was her sex life all over the school. When she realized the students left in the hallway weren't paying them any attention, she looked back at Isaac and folded her arms across her chest, as she said, "If you were really listening, and I know you were, you would know I didn't say a word about it, Avery is the one who brought it up."

She gave him a shrug, as she continued, "Honestly, what we did is already out of my head. It wasn't that memorable."

"Oh, really?" Isaac questioned. He pushed away from the lockers, then walked over toward her and laid his hands on her hips. He grinned at her, as he began to say, "So does that mean you forgot about this?"

He leaned forward to lightly kiss the side of her neck and then worked his way up to her ear, whispering some of the things he did to her earlier in her kitchen. She squeezed her eyes closed and bit her bottom lip to keep from moaning out.

He grinned at hearing her heart rate pick up, as he began to nibble on her ear. He felt her dig her nails into his shoulders, as she tried to keep her balance, her knees going weak. He softly chuckled in her ear, then kissed it, before pulling back to look at her. He couldn't stop smiling as he saw that she still had her eyes closed and her mouth slightly open, as she tried to catch her breath.

"Do you remember that?" Isaac questioned, as he continued to watch her. "If not, I can pull you into an empty classroom and remind you." He teased.

Teagan chuckled as she opened her eyes to look at him, before breathing out, "I remember." She shot him an innocent look, as she added, "But you can still remind me."

Isaac laughed, as he grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers, as the two began to walk down the hallway together. He glanced over at her, as he joked, "What happened to my girl? You're wanting to skip school and have sex in public, that is so unlike you."

"Nothing is wrong. That is what is so great about it." She said happily. "For the first time in weeks I don't feel this anxiety weighing me down. I feel like I can do anything, like have sex with my boyfriend in the kitchen, classrooms or where ever." She teased.

"Hey, I'm not complaining." Isaac said with a laugh. "I just missed my girl." He added, as he stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her toward him as the two continued to walk down the hall.

"Hey, maybe we should..." She began to say, as she turned around to face him. She came to a quick stop, looking down the hallway as a glimpse of brown hair caught her eye. Her eyes widen, as she told herself this couldn't be happening, not again. It couldn't be her mother.

"Teagan? What's wrong?" Isaac asked with a concern look, as he heard her heart began to race in fear. He glanced behind him, looking in the direction she was, but didn't see anything other than several of their peers rushing down the hall trying to get to class.

Teagan didn't say anything, she couldn't, as she continued to stare at the side profile of the woman down the hall. She took a few deep breaths, trying to keep from freaking out. This couldn't be happening, she was better, things were better.

Several long minutes later, the woman finally turned, giving Teagan a clear view of her and making her realize it was just one of their teachers. She blew out a breath, and quietly chuckled at herself. She couldn't believe she let herself get worked up like that. She had to keep reminding herself that things were okay now. All of that was over.

"Teagan, are you okay?" Isaac asked, as he grabbed her chin and turned her to face him, a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah, sorry. I just- I thought I saw something." Teagan said, as she flashed him a smile, hoping that would ease his mind.

"What? What did you see?" He questioned.

Teagan paused for a moment, wondering what she should actually say. She didn't want to lie to him, but she also didn't want to worry him again either. In the end, she decided it was best to be honest with him, but before she could say a word, they heard the second bell ring, they were now late for class.

"Crap. We got to get to class." Teagan said with a sigh. "Don't worry, baby, everything is okay, I promise." She added, as she stood on her tip toes, to quickly brush her lips against his. "I'll tell you later though, I love you." She called out, as she turned to rush down the hallway to get to class, leaving behind a confused Isaac.

**~()~**

Avery smiled to herself as she walked back into the classroom after talking to Teagan, for the first time in a while she was feeling oddly optimistic.

Teagan and Isaac seemed to be going strong again, and her friend didn't only seem happy –she looked rested, refreshed. Which might even mean that the door in her head was closed.

Smiling at the thought, she looked down to her desk and thought of how Teagan wasn't the only one who seemed to be having a better than usual day. Her own morning might have gotten off to a rocky start, but having breakfast with Deputy Parrish had made her forget about how bad things had gotten for her lately.

Even if she knew the feeling was short lived, it didn't matter… she'd gladly take a distraction from her problems, especially if that distraction came wrapped in a tight fitted police uniform with green eyes she could stare into all day, her eyebrows raised as that thought as she almost chuckled out loud to herself.

"What's gotten into you today?" Stiles asked as he sat down in the empty seat next to her, he'd been watching her for a while, seeming lost in her thoughts.

"I don't know." She shrugged, then flashed him a smile as she asked, "I just have a feeling like everything might be okay, you know? For all of us."

"No, I don't know that feeling." He argued looking at her confused. Normally she was pointing out everything that was going wrong.

She frowned slightly at his words and looked over to where Kira was approaching Scott.

"Seriously… what is going on with you today?" He asked her.

With a small smile she admitted, "I just had a really good breakfast…"

Looking back over she heard Kira say to Scott, "Hi, I'm Kira. You already knew that, I knew you knew that. I don't know why I told you that again."

Scott smiled at her nervous behavior and started to say something but she didn't let him as she pulled her bag off and said, "Anyways, I have something for you."

"For me?" Scott asked, as he reached up and held onto the straps of his book bag still smiling at her.

"Yeah, about the bardo. My explanation was all over the place, so I did some research for you and I printed it out." She explained with another nervous laugh as she started to rummage around in the folders and notebooks in her bag.

"Ah, you didn't have to do that."

"It only took a couple hours." She assured him, her eyes growing wider as she couldn't find the papers she'd printed off for him.

Rubbing the back of his neck he looked at her shocked, "Wow, then you really didn't have to do that."

He glanced around the room as he waited for her to find the papers and saw Avery watching them with a knowing smile, confused he silently mouthed, "What?"

Kira looked up to see him mouthing something to Avery and then turned her head to see the blonde wink at him before she went back to her conversation with Stiles, leaving Scott more confused than before.

"Kira." Her dad called getting her attention as she turned around to face him, "You forgot all the research you did for that boy you like."

Taking the papers from her dad, Kira's expression revealed both her horror and shock at her dad saying that when 'that boy' was literally standing right behind her.

Slowly turning back around she pushed the stack of papers into Scott's hands and barely made eye contact as she slid into an empty desk and hung her head in disbelief that her dad had just done that to her.

As everyone else filed into the room and filled the empty seats Mr. Yukimura started his lesson plan for that day, "We were just talking about internment camps and prisoners of war. There's a passage in our reading I'd like to go over in more detail… who would like to come up and read aloud for us?"

Stiles looked over to Avery expecting to her volunteer like usual so the teacher wouldn't call on him, but she was sitting with her head resting on her hand as she stared past him out the windows with a thoughtful expression.

Seeing the teacher starting to look at him Stiles whispered, "Avery…"

But it was too late as she continued to space out, seeming to be lost in a daydream and Mr. Yukimura called on Stiles.

"Uh…" He breathed out as he drummed his pencil on the desk, "Maybe someone else could?"

"Everyone participates in my class, Mr. Stilinski."

Waving her hand and flashing him a wide smile Avery said, "I would love to come up and read for the class."

"I've already choose, Mr. Stilinski."

Stiles looked over her his face seeming to grow paler by the second as he thought of having to get up and trying to read to the class.

"Are you sure, no offense to Stiles but I'm sure the class would find me more entertaining." She pushed, hoping to take the pressure off of him, but her efforts were futile as Mr. Yukimura stood by his first choice.

Hoping that may for the first time in a while, he'd be able to turn the letters into words, but as he reached the podium and glanced down to the book he knew it wasn't going to happen. The harder he tried to focus on the page the worse the throbbing in his head got, and the dizzier he became.

"Stiles!" Avery exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and rushed to his side just as she started to stumble.

Seeing what was happening, Scott also raced to his friends as he looked at the teacher and said, "We should take him to the nurses office."

Mr. Yukimura nodded as he stood up from his desk, concerned for his student's health and also confused as to what had happened.

As they walked past him Avery looked to her teacher and said, "I told you, I should have done the reading." His confused expression grew.

"Where are we going?" Avery questioned once they were in the hallway.

"Uh… bathroom." Scott said nodding to the nearest room that wasn't a full classroom.

Once they got him in the door he pushed his friends back and stumbled around.

"Stiles, look at me, man. What is this, is this a panic attack?" Scott questioned, a worried look on his face.

"No." He breathed as he fell against the sink and held onto the sides trying to keep himself upright as he started to mutter, "It's a dream, it's a dream… this is just a dream."

"Stiles, this is real." Avery argued taking a few cautious steps forward.

Nodding in agreement Scott said, "This isn't a dream. You're here with us, this is real… you're here."

As his breathing grew shallower and he looked even more pasty white than moments before Scott asked, "Okay, what do you do? How do you tell if you're awake or dreaming?"

As Stiles turned to face him, Avery rubbed a hand over his back in a comforting, friendly gesture to help ease his nerves but as she did she gasped at the sparks she felt under her hand. Her eyebrows pushed together and she realized it was the same feeling in her fingertips she'd gotten when she'd helped Scott by taking some of his anger and bloodlust when he was transforming.

Stiles explained that he always counted fingers because you always have extra fingers in dreams.

So as Scott got his best friend to count his fingers with him one by one, Avery closed her eyes and concentrated as she pulled the anxiety from Stiles and felt it absorb into her every single cell.

By the time he'd counted all of Scott's fingers, he was much calmer than before but the anxiety had been replaced with a feeling of hopelessness.

Sliding down the wall he put his head in his hands as he muttered, "What the hell is happening to me?"

Scott knelt down and Avery stood where she was, trying to catch her breath as each time her lungs inflated it was more painful than the last, pulling the stress from her friend might have provided him some temporary comfort, but as for her she was now feeling everything intensified, including the anxiety she'd absorbed from him.

"We'll figure this out, you're going to be okay." Scott tried to assure him, but Stiles argued that they weren't going to be able to help Malia, they couldn't even help themselves.

"Avery?" He finally asked, as her heavy breathing became all he could hear.

"I…" She swallowed hard as she clutched onto her chest and said, "I... think I'm having a heart attack." She gasped, as her legs gave way but Scott quickly caught her and carefully lowered her to the floor.

Both of her friends were speaking to her, both of them trying to not only calm her but to get her to explain to them what was happening, for a brief second her eyes met Stiles' and she wondered if this was how bad he felt every time he started to have a panic or anxiety attack.

"Avery!" Scott yelled, until her eyes finally focused on his, as he pleaded, "Breathe… just breathe, you're okay. We're right here."

Her chest hurt as she continued to fight for a breath, but it was useless, no matter how many fits of air she sucked in not an ounce of it seemed to be reaching her lungs. The walls of the room seemed to be closing in on her, and she could hear thudding on the floor race past her, but she had no idea it was Stiles running to get the nurse.

Her ears felt like they were filled with cotton or water she wasn't sure; all she knew was that everything was muffled and this was an entirely new level of fear she was experiencing.

Slowly, sounds started to come into focus and she watched Scott as he frantically spoke to her, but it wasn't his voice she was hearing she could hear Deucalion's voice in her head, "_Kill her! That storm you hear… she's burying them alive! It's her connection to the telluric currents, kill her and it ends, it will all end."_

Frantically she shook her head back and forth as Scott's face faded away and the only thing she could see was the image of Deucalion killing her mother while she used her powers to temporarily paralyze her.

Reaching for her head she roughly pulled on her blonde locks, as if there was a way to pull the memory from her mind.

"Avery!" Scott yelled as he sat down all the way on the floor and pulled her against him, pinning her arms over her stomach to keep her from hurting herself, he could see several strands of her hair wrapped around her fingers as she struggled against him, before finally letting out a scream that made him gasp in pain and the light directly above them blew out.

As bits of glass from the covering and bulbs rained down on them, Scott leaned over his friend doing his best to shield her.

Once the glass stopped falling , he slowly raised his head and noticed she wasn't panicking anymore.

"Are you okay?" He asked her pulling them both to their feet.

"I'm… okay." She breathed as she pulled her hair from between her fingers and dropped it to the floor with a disgusted expression as the door flew open and both Stiles and the nurse came running into the bathroom.

Avery kept insisting she was fine, but the nurse made her get her vitals checked before she'd let her go to her next class.

**~()~**

"Excuse me." An officer said as he tried to prevent Avery from walking to the locker room.

Looking to where he'd blocked her path with his arm she responded with a jolt of attitude, "You're excused." As she pushed his arm out of the way and marched into the room nodding to the sheriff before she saw Kira standing next to her dad

She avoided Scott's gaze as he watched her, she knew he wanted to talk about what happened earlier but it was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

"Kira, hey." She said as she walked up to her friend.

"Hey…" She breathed.

Avery looked around and asked, "Are you okay?"

Kira glanced up to her dad and to the only person who had claimed her as a friend so far, but she still had no idea how to handle Avery or anything the blonde said to her.

"I'm fine." She said breathing a sigh of relief as her nerves started to calm some, "I'm fine." She repeated with a smile, believing the words as she spoke them.

"Good, I was worried." Avery said giving her an unreadable expression.

"You we're?" Kira questioned surprised.

"Of course, Kira… we're friends." Avery responded, still trying to figure out what the student was and why she gave off an energy that Avery could literally feel in the air around her.

"Right." She smiled, "Thanks for coming to check on me."

"You're welcome." Avery said flashing a wide smile to her girl, and then up to her history teacher.

"Kira, aren't you going to invite Avery over for dinner?"

Looking up to her dad with a shocked expression she stuttered out, "I didn't want to make her feel obligated."

Realizing going to the new girls house would give her an opportunity to snoop around some and trying to get to the bottom of what was different with Kira, Avery said, "Nonsense, I would love to… how does 8 sound?"

"Perfect, we'll see you tonight." Mr. Yukimura said with a smile, as Kira took out her phone to text her new friend their address.

**~()~**

"Here it is." Allison said, as she lifted the lid, showing Teagan the tranquilizer gun inside the case.

Teagan reached inside to pull the gun out, looking through the scope, and getting a feel for the weapon. Thankfully Allison had trained her and Avery on tranquilizer guns before, so she was familiar with them.

"You remember everything I taught you, right?" Allison asked, making sure she remembered. She knew Teagan could do it, but with everything going on lately, she wanted to make sure her head was in the right place.

"I remember." Teagan answer. Then quietly added,"I just hope I don't screw this up."

Allison laid a hand on her shoulder, giving it a small squeeze, as she said, "You can do this, T. If you start to panic, just remember, 'nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger leurs-même'."

"We protect those who cannot protect themselves." Teagan softly said, translating the new code Allison came up with. Reminding her of the task at hand.

"That's right. Never forget." Allison said with a smile. She removed her hand and grabbed her cell phone, sending Scott a text, letting him know she had the guns for herself and Teagan to use. He quickly wrote back, letting her know Isaac was on his way with the Xylazine from Deaton.

"I still can't believe she showed up at school." Teagan said, referring to the coyote. It went after the new girl, Kira, but thankfully she or no one was hurt.

Allison nodded her head in agreement, then said, "Now everyone is looking for her, we just have to hope we find her first and Scott can turn her back."

"Before it's too late." Teagan softly added.

The two were quiet for a few minutes, until Teagan glanced around the room, then asked,"Where is the other tranq gun?"

"It's downstairs." Allison answered, referring to the basement where they had a storage area for their weapons and other stuff. "I need to go get it." She added.

"I can go." Teagan offered.

"Okay." Allison said, as she handed her the key to unlock their unit.

"I'll be back." Teagan said, as she grabbed the key, then made her way out of the room.

Several minutes later, she was standing alone in the elevator, the soft music playing around her. She folded her arms across her chest, as she waited for the elevator to stop in the basement.

When the music began to crackle, the sound going in and out, she snapped her head up, worried something was wrong with the elevator. Her eyes widen when she began to faintly hear her name being said through the speakers.

She quickly backed up, her back slamming against the wall of the elevator, when she realized it was her mother's voice she was hearing. Placing her hands over her ears, as she whimpered out, "No, not again. Not again."

She thought this was over, she thought she was okay, that things were normal again. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Teagan kept her hands pressed against her ears, as she squeezed her eyes shut, praying the voice would stop echoing in her head, snapping her eyes open when she felt the elevator jerk to a stop.

She quickly rushed over to the buttons, pressing for the door to open, as she yelled out, "Let me out! Please let me out of here!"

As her mother's voice kept repeating her name over and over again, she slammed her hands on to doors, hitting it repeatedly. "Stop it! Please stop it!" She screamed, hitting the doors a few more times, as she cried out, "Help me! Someone please, help me! Just make it stop. Please, make it stop!"

Suddenly the voice stopped, every thing was silent until she heard a ding before the doors begin to slide open. She gasp when she saw she wasn't in the basement, but instead in a dimly lit morgue.

Teagan took a few steps back, she didn't want to leave the safety of the elevator, but she felt drawn to the room, causing her to take a few cautious steps until she was in the center of the room.

She looked to her left seeing two tables with a body on each and a sheet covering up both, then she glanced to her right seeing two more, but had no clue who the four dead bodies could be.

Moving closer to one of the tables on the right, she reached out a hand, curious about who was under the sheet then quickly pulled her hand back, beginning to have second thoughts. She was about to reach out again, until a voice behind her spoke up, causing her to spin around to see who it was.

"Go ahead, sweet girl, see who it is." Her mother, Lisa, said.

Teagan took a deep breath, then turned back to look at the table. With a shaky hand, she reached out to grab the sheet, slowly pulling it back. She gasped when she saw it was Scott.

"Scott?" Teagan questioned, as she laid her hand on his shoulder, softly shaking him. Hoping he was just asleep and would wake up.

"He can't hear you. He's dead." Lisa stated, as she took a step toward her daughter. She nodded her to the other table, as she said, "Check that one."

Teagan looked away from Scott, tears filling her eyes, as she looked over at her mother –who nodded her head to the table again, waiting for her to remove the sheet. She stepped over to the table, reaching out again to grab the sheet and pulled it back.

Tears fell down her face when she saw it was Jackson, who like Scott, was also dead.

"How-How did he-"

"You have to check those two." Lisa interrupted, as she nodded her head toward the tables on the left side.

"I-I don't want to. I'm scared." Teagan whispered.

"Do it." Lisa commanded.

"But mom-"

"Do it!" Lisa yelled.

Teagan jumped at her loud comment, her mother's voice echoing throughout the quiet room. She bit her bottom lip, holding back a whimper, as she walked over to the other two tables. She took several deep breaths, then reached out, her fingers gripping the sheet, but was too scared to pull it back.

"I said, do it!" Lisa yelled again.

Teagan quickly jerked the sheet back and cried out, when she saw Avery laying on the table. "No! No, no, no. This can't- this can't real." She cried.

"One more to go." Lisa said, ignoring her daughter's cries, as she walked over to the last table. "You can't forget this one." She added.

"I can't-I don't want to." Teagan cried. "I don't want to, please, don't make me."

"You have to see, Teagan." Lisa said, before she pulled the last sheet back. Revealing a dead Isaac laying on the table.

"No!" Teagan screamed, as she stumbled over to the table, falling against it. She leaned forward, her hands shaking as she reached out to touch his face, her vision too blurred with tears to see him clearly.

She laid against him as she broke out into a sob, crying over his dead body. She glanced up, seeing her mother standing in front of her on the other side of the table. "Who did this? Who killed them?" She cried out.

"You did." Lisa simply stated.

Teagan shook her head, as she straightened up, then said, "No, no, I would never. I would never hurt my friends, I would- I would never hurt Isaac."

"You have to." Lisa said. Her eyes flickered behind Teagan, looking at something, as she added, "You have to or else."

"Or else what?" Teagan questioned.

"Look and see." Lisa said, her eyes glancing over Teagan's shoulders again.

Teagan turned around, seeing another table. She knew it wasn't there earlier, but just like the others, it had a body with a sheet covering it up.

"Who-Who is it?" Teagan nervously asked, she couldn't imagine what could be worst then seeing her friends and boyfriend under a sheet.

Lisa smirked, but didn't answer, as she walked over to the table. She looked at her daughter for a moment, then pulled the sheet back with one quick jerk. Teagan's mouth dropped open when she realized it was herself laying on the table. Her eyes were closed, making her look almost peaceful, but from the looks of the bites and scratches on her body, it was clear to see it wasn't a peaceful death.

"It's-It's me. I'm dead." Teagan mumbled, as she stepped closer to the table, looking at herself closely.

Lisa nodded her head, then said, "This is your future. This is what will happen to you, unless..."

"Unless what?" Teagan questioned, when she paused.

"Unless you kill them." Lisa stated, as she raised her head to nodded toward the four dead bodies behind Teagan, the dead bodies of her closest friends and boyfriend.

"No." Teagan whimpered out, as she took a step back.

Lisa stepped around the table, taking a few steps toward Teagan, who kept backing away from her. "You have to kill them, Teagan. You either kill them or they will be the death of you. No human can ever survive this world. You have to get out before it's too late."

"No!" Teagan yelled again as her back slammed against the wall, trapping her as her mother walked closer to her.

"You have to do it, Teagan, you have to!" Lisa argued.

Teagan squeezed her eyes shut, moving her head from side to side hoping she would wake up from this nightmare. She knew it couldn't be real, her friends and boyfriend couldn't be dead by her hands, her mother couldn't be in front of her; yelling at her to kill them.

She heard her heart racing and felt her chest tightening up, as she tried to take a deep breath. She remember something Allison told her earlier, then began to mumbled out, "Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger leurs-même."

After saying the code to herself a few times she froze for a minute, not hearing her mother's yelling anymore, hoping that meant this nightmare was over but when she opened her eyes and saw her mother's face in front of her, she screamed and jumped in fear.

Lisa chuckled, as she folded her arms across her chest, then said, "You really think you can recite a code and get rid of me?"

Teagan, feeling her knees go weak slid down the wall to the floor. She pulled her legs up, folding her arms around her as she began to rock back and forth. She stared straight ahead, as if in a daze, just waiting for this to be over but began to fear it would never be over. She was never coming out of this nightmare. This was her life now. Stuck in a morgue with her dead loved ones and being haunted by her mother.

Lisa squatted down, staring at her daughter as she said, "Since you're so big on codes now. I got a new one for you." She waited until Teagan looked at her, then continued,"Tuer ou être tué."

"What?" Teagan breathed out.

"Tuer ou être tué." Lisa repeated.

Teagan closed her eyes again, squeezing them tight as the phrase echoed in her head over and over again, until she finally found herself mumbling it to herself.

This was how Isaac and Allison found her minutes later. After he arrived at the apartment, and she wasn't back from the basement, he and Allison decided to head down there in case she needed help locating the gun.

It wasn't until about halfway down that he heard it the pounding of her heart, followed by her whimpering out in fear. Isaac hit the basement button repeatedly, hoping it would get him to her quicker. He ignored Allison's comment to be patient as he hit the door a few times, telling the elevator to hurry the hell up.

A few long minutes later, the doors finally slid open and he rushed out to scan the room, trying to locate his girlfriend. He followed her scent and heartbeat, to the very back seeing her sitting on the floor, her knees up to her chin as she rocked back and forth with her eyes closed.

He ran over to her, falling on to his knees, he reached out lightly touching her face, as he called out her name. When that didn't get a reaction, he began to shake her shoulders. Gently at first, then began to shake her roughly, while yelling out her name.

"Wait... Wait." Allison called out, as she kneeled down in front of Teagan. She saw her mouth moving, but couldn't hear what she was saying.

"What is it? What is she saying?" Isaac questioned, as he looked over at Allison, before looking back at Teagan with a concern look on his face.

"I don't- I don't know." Allison mumbled. She leaned closer to her friend, trying to hear better. When she finally heard what she was saying, she pulled back with a gasp as she said,"Tuer ou être tué. That's what she's saying, tuer ou être tué."

"What the hell does that mean?" Isaac asked, as he laid a hand on the side of Teagan's neck, softly caressing her cheek.

"Kill or be killed." Allison answered, as she looked over at him, a worried look on her face, wondering why the hell she would be saying that. She turned back to look at Teagan, as she said, "Teagan? Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger leurs-même."

"What's that?" Isaac asked confused.

"It's our code." Allison answered, as she looked over at him –then looked back at Teagan, as she continued to mutter out the other phrase.

Every time Teagan said it, Allison would say their code, the two went back and forth a few times until Teagan finally began to recite the code, the correct one, saying it over and over again.

Teagan mumbled the code to herself one more time, then took a deep breath before slowly releasing it. She opened her eyes as she raised her head, seeing the concerned looks on Isaac and Allison's faces.

"Teagan?" Isaac quietly said, then breathed a sigh of relief, when she turned her head to look at him. With his hand still on the side of her neck, he pulled her toward him, wrapping his arms around her to hold her tight.

Teagan griped his shirt and buried her face against the soft fabric, getting a whiff of his cologne. She felt Allison lightly run a hand in a circle motion on her back, hoping to help calm her down.

"I'm-I'm sorry." Teagan whispered, her voice muffled against Isaac's shirt.

"What?" Isaac questioned, as he pushed her back a little to hear her better.

"I'm sorry." Teagan repeated. "I don't- I don't know what happened." She added, as tears filled her eyes.

"It's happening again." Isaac softly said, saying it as more of a statement, than a question.

"I don't know why. It was over. It's supposed to be over." Teagan said, as tears ran down her face. "I want it to be over." She added, her voice cracking.

Isaac pulled her back toward him, holding her against him, as he kissed the top of her head. The small trio sat in silence, until they heard Allison's phone beep.

She stood up, slipping the phone from her pants pocket to read the new text message. It was from Scott, telling her it was time for them to meet up at the woods.

Allison looked back at Isaac and Teagan with a dejected look on her face. She didn't know what happened to Teagan or what she saw, but the way she clinging to Isaac, it had to be bad.

"Who was it?" Isaac questioned, as he glanced at Allison for a moment, before giving all of his attention back to his girlfriend.

"Scott." Allison answered, then added, "It's time."

Isaac jerked his head up to look at Allison, a pained look on his face. He knew they had a plan, and he knew they needed to stick to the plan, but he couldn't just leave her. He still had no idea what actually happened or what she saw.

"It's okay." Allison said, as if she could read his thoughts. "Stay with her. We'll find Malia."

"No." Teagan stated, as she pulled away from Isaac. She looked at him, as she said, "You have to go. We all do." When she saw Isaac open his mouth to argue, she continued, "I can't- I can't give up. Whatever is happening to me, I can't let it control me. I have to keep fighting, right?"

She looked up at Allison, seeing her nod her head in agreement, then lowered her head to looked at Isaac, trying to be brave and not break down like she wanted to,"We can't give up. These nightmares, these hallucinations are not my life." She grabbed his hands, holding on to them and drawing strength from him, as she softly continued, "This is my life. You and me. It's always you and me."

Isaac smiled at her words, and then pulled her toward him to lovingly kiss her forehead, before resting his forehead against hers.

"Are you sure? We'll all understand if you need to sit this one out." Allison stated, as she watched the couple.

Teagan pulled away from Isaac to look up at Allison and nodded her head. She had to help, this was who she was. She was a helper, she had to help her friends. She couldn't be what her mother said, she couldn't be a killer, and she could never kill her friends. Maybe by helping, by doing something right, it would drive her mother's voice from her mind.

"Let's go then." Allison said, as she looked at the couple.

Isaac looked at Teagan for a moment, he still saw the fear in her eyes, and was itching to know what she saw, but he could also see the fire in her eyes, and knew it was important for her to help.

He wished he knew how to make her feel better, but if this did it, he would support it. Right now, that is what was important, he would find out what happened afterwards.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thank you so much for reading, we both really hope you all liked the chapter!**

**Don't forget to check out Miss E Charlotte's and my profile for links to our Tumblr, Polyvore and more accounts where we post Blue Moon Series related content!**


	9. Hear Me Roar

**Chapter 9 - Hear Me Roar**

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><p>"So to begin with all I hear out of you is how terrible I am, not to mention I seem to recall you literally telling me I was sleeping with the enemy. And now you're calling and begging me to have Aiden meet us?" Lydia said, gesturing dramatically with one hand as she drove towards the building with Derek's loft.<p>

Rolling her eyes Avery said, "Because you are terrible, and you are still currently sleeping with the enemy. And I'm Avery Dukate, I don't beg."

"Are you even sure this is going to work? He's not an alpha anymore…"

"Right now he and his brother are the best shot we've got. There's a teenage girl, Lydia… a girl our age trapped in the body of a coyote, if Scott can for her to turn back human, then she can finally go home." Avery reminded her.

Lydia glanced down to see Avery messing with the dials for the radio changing stations so fast it was impossible to even tell what song was playing with a sigh she smacked her best friend's hands away and asked, "And… where is your car?"

"Home, my dad called our mechanic to come take a look at it this morning, something with the battery… anyways it's supposed to be fixed now."

Recalling the earlier events of the day Lydia remembered out loud, "You were late to school today… who drove you?"

Avery looked down to her lap as a small smile spread over her lips at remembering the breakfast she'd shared with Deputy Parrish.

"What is that… is that a smile?" Lydia playfully teased, but Avery quickly hid the smile and said, "You don't know him."

"Him?"

"Yes, him."

"When did you meet him?" Lydia continued her questioning.

"Last night." Avery admitted with a laugh as she remembered embarrassing the young officer to the point that his face was turning red.

Lydia's formerly lighthearted expression fell as she looked over to her blonde friend and said, "Don't tell you're back to your old ways… not after everything, A."

Avery's jaw tensed in anger, not only at the fact that her friend was actually very wrong about the events of the prior night, but that for well over a month she had been back to her old ways; but she couldn't stand the thought of anyone knowing.

"We both know that I'm the last person on this earth who's going to get preachy on you, but as your best friend… I have to tell you that no one liked 'that Avery'. You didn't even like her. All the nights Jackson had to take off and try to find you, I literally spent every weekend scared that you were going to disappear for good… or that something worse was going to happen to you." Lydia reminded her with a concerned looked.

"And you have nothing to worry about, seriously. I'm fine." Avery said, but her friend knew it was a lie. She'd been noticing small things were different in the way she'd been acting, the way she was paying other students to do her homework. Things that she hadn't done in well over a year.

"We've had our differences, and our fights… but Avery, you don't have to lie to me. Don't forget those years Teagan was gone, I'm the one who saw you through your worst."

Feeling immediately defensive and attacked, Avery turned her head and unintentionally snapped, "I know, Lydia."

"I mean it was even my mom who took you to get you on birth control after that pregnancy scare." She reminded her.

"For god sakes, I remember… waiting for those test results was one of the worst nights of my life, I was only 14. Why are you even bringing all of this up?" She questioned, her eyebrows pushed together in confusion. A sick feeling rose in her stomach as she rubbed her hands together nervously.

"Because... I know everything you've been through and the way you're coming into school every day acting like you're fine, it scares me." She admitted, knowing her friend wasn't going to be happy.

"I am fine."

"With everything you mom and Deucalion put you though, how could you be fine? And then Derek leaving town on top of all that... Now our friends are losing their minds, and somehow you don't appear to be shaken by any of it, I'm just saying that's not humanly possible." She continued to argue as she pulled to a stop in front of the large, imposing building.

"Derek and I came to an agreement, this… thing we had between us, it wasn't healthy for either of us. And as for our friends, that's exactly why I can't break down… my mom is the reason all of them are in this mess. She tried to kill you, Lydia. If I can do this, if I can fix them… then maybe it's a start to making up for what she did." Avery admitted, true emotion flashing through her eyes before she blinked it away and covered with a steely, confident look and got out of the car before Lydia had a chance to respond.

**~()~**

It was early evening when everyone met up at the woods, they had a plan. To find Malia, and get her to shift out of her werecoyote form. Even though she didn't agree with the way Ethan and Aiden had beat Scott until he was forced to shift and roar she couldn't deny their methods; though barbaric worked.

As everyone exited their cars, and Scott got off his bike Lydia looked around as she asked, "Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?"

Scott shook his head as he argued, "We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter."

"Actually." Isaac spoke up, "We're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote."

"A coyote who also happens to be his own daughter." Teagan pointed out as she looked down to the gun in her hand, knowing she couldn't afford to miss her shots, she only had two of the loaded tranquilizer darts, while Allison had the 3rd and final one.

"I'm going to find the den, looking around and see what I can pick up on. Maybe try following trails after that." Allison said as she pulled her tranquilizer gun from the trunk of her car.

Holding up her phone with her other hand she said, "We all keep in touch, phones on."

Every nodded and checked their own phones as Allison waved to the group and headed off into the woods.

"Isaac's going to try to pick up on a scent, and I'll be with him so I can tranq her if we find her. I've got 2 chances at it." She said her hands trembling a little as she recalled the terrifyingly real hallucination she'd had earlier.

But her attention was diverted when she heard a few laughs run through her group of friends.

"What?" Isaac asked, stepping closer to Teagan.

"I don't think any of us doubted you two weren't going to stick together." Lydia pointed out as she crossed her arms over her chest, causing Avery to smile as Isaac curled an arm around his girlfriend's waist.

"Alright, I guess it's me and you." Avery said as she took a step closer to Lydia, the red head nodded in agreement.

"Actually… Lydia's coming with me." Stiles said as he and Scott exchanged looks.

Seeing the best friend's expressions, she knew this had something to do with her earlier episode in the bathroom at the school.

"Okay… I'll just go catch up with Allison then…"

But her words were cut off when Scott pushed his extra helmet into her hands as he said, "You'll be with me."

"Why?" she asked with a jolt of attitude as she folder her arms over her chest and demanded an answer. The last thing she wanted was for anyone at all to bring up what had happened earlier.

"You know…" Stiles laughed nervously, knowing she was getting mad, "We just thought it would be fun to mix things up, you guys could make a good team."

When she shot him a look he rubbed his hand over his hair and his voice raised in pitch as he said, "Or, you know… not."

Teagan looked around not sure what was happening or why they were trying to get Avery to go with Scott, she was about to speak up and suggest Avery come with her and Isaac but Scott spoke before she did.

"It's the whole alpha and emissary thing."

Snapping her gaze back to him she spoke, making air quotes with her helmet free hand, "Scott, I swear to god if you bring up 'our connection' one more time…"

"Just put the helmet on, you're coming with me." Scott asserted, as he pulled his own helmet on and nodded for her to follow suit.

For a moment she forgot about the awful vision she'd had, as Teagan laughed at the expression on Avery's face and how Scott wasn't taking her crap anymore. He was getting better at handling her, which was good considering Avery was now a hundred percent part of his pack.

"Ready to go?" Isaac asking looking over to Teagan.

"Yeah, I just hope we can find her."

Raising her gun she looked through the scope and felt to make sure she had the tranquilizer canister on it properly, but as she started to lower the gun she realized she had the back of her blond best friend's head in the direct center of her focus.

A soft wind blew through the trees and she could hear her mother's voice in her head, "Tuer ou être tué."

Her hand trembled as her finger ever so lightly grazed against the trigger, almost as if she wasn't in control of her own body anymore, like it wasn't really her hand but someone else's.

Just then a loud gunshot rang out through the woods, she gasped and pinned her eyes shut immediately horrified and terrified to look and see what had happened.

"Avery!" Scott yelled.

And Teagan made a noise like all the air had been physically knocked out of her, as she lowered the gun and opened her eyes expecting to see her best friend wounded or possibly even worse.

But she looked just in time to see Scott speeding off with Avery on the back of his bike, appearing to be uninjured.

"What was that?" Lydia squeaked out, looking around them.

"Hopefully not Mr. Tate shooting the coyote…" Stiles breathed out as he nodded for Lydia to follow him into the woods. He'd tried to get Scott to wait on everyone else, so they could work out a new plan, but his friend didn't listen as he'd taken with Avery.

**~()~**

Teagan stood frozen for a moment, the strong urge to shoot her best friend weighing heavily on her mind. Hearing her breathing pick up, Isaac glanced over at her wondering if she saw something again or if it was just the gunshot that frightened her.

He opened his mouth to ask if she was okay, but before he could say a word they heard another gunshot, forcing him to run into woods, knowing they were running out of time to save Malia.

Teagan, hearing the second shot, jumped, then began to run after Isaac as he went further through the woods. She was a fast runner, but running after a werewolf was not an easy thing to do.

The two ran deeper into the woods, Isaac was still a little ahead of her, causing her to pant out his name as she asked him to wait for her. He glanced back for a moment, seeing how far behind she was. He didn't mean to take off and leave her but after hearing the gun shots, he just sprung into action.

While his head was turned trying to locate his girlfriend, he didn't see the bear trap laying out on the ground in front of him. He quickly went down, yelling out in pain, when the trap snapped on his foot, trapping him.

Teagan skid to a stop, her mouth dropped open in surprise when she saw Isaac on the ground in pain. Normally she would have dropped everything and fell down beside him, trying her hardest to get him out of the trap but she found herself unable to move.

She felt a slight breeze again almost like someone's breath on the back of her neck, before quietly hearing,"Tuer ou être tué."

"No." Teagan breathed out. Like earlier, she felt like someone else was trying to take over, like she had no control over her own body. She felt herself begin to raise the gun pointing it at Isaac, who had his head down trying to pull the trap off of his foot.

"Do it, do it." She heard echoing in her head, and felt her trigger finger twitching. She took several deep breaths, as she felt the gun continue to raise up to her face. She looked through the scoop, setting her sights on Isaac's back.

She quickly closed her eyes, forcing herself to lower the gun right as Isaac turned his head, looking at her from over his shoulder. He called out her name seeing her jump in surprise, before opening her eyes to look at him.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could he heard a noise coming from his other side, causing him to snap his head to the side, seeing Mr. Tate; who was holding a gun on the coyote they were trying to save.

"Teagan." He hissed out, getting her attention, then nodded his head aside, where Tate was standing.

"I don't- I don't know if I can." Teagan whimpered out, afraid if she looked through the gun again she would have the urge to shoot him like before.

"You can do it." Isaac said. When he saw her shook her head and look away, he continued, "Hey, babe, look at me." When she turned her head back, he added, "You can do it. I believe in you, Teagan… I know you can do this."

"I can do this." Teagan mumbled, repeating his words, as she lifted the gun. She looked through the scoop, setting it on Tate. She took a deep breath, remembering everything Allison taught her when she trained her on guns then lightly pulled back the trigger.

"Damn it." She whispered, when she missed him and hit a tree instead.

"Teagan..." Isaac began to say, when he saw her lower the gun wanting to give up. When she looked over at him, he continued again, "You can do this, I would bet my life on it, okay? Do it, just do it."

She closed her eyes, feeling a breeze again, causing her to shiver, as she heard the whispery words of her mother again, "Do it, sweet girl. He's trapped and vulnerable. Do it, take out Isaac. Tuer ou être tué, Teagan."

Teagan shook her head, squeezing her eyes and tried her hardest to ignore the voice in her head. Instead she listened to Isaac, telling her she could do it that he trusted her. She took a shaky breath, then whispered out, "Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger leurs-même."

Blowing out a calming breath she opened her eyes and raised the gun, setting her sights on Tate. She whispered the code to herself one more time, then squeezed the trigger, using her last tranquilizer dart.

She breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw it hit Tate in the back before he fell to the ground. She quickly turned her head to look at Isaac with a smile on her face, she did it. She actually did it.

To her it was a bigger victory, she was able to shut out her mother's voice. No matter what she said, she would never hurt her loved ones –she would never became a killer.

After seeing Malia run off, and knowing she was now safe from being killed by her father, Teagan carefully placed the gun on the ground and made her way over to Isaac. She fell down to her knees beside him, placing her hands on the trap and tried to pull it apart, just like he was trying to do.

Isaac pushed against the trap as hard as he could then groaned out in frustration and pain, once he realized it wasn't budging. "It's not coming off." He snarled, as he tried to pull it off of his foot, with no luck.

Teagan, hearing his breathing pick up as he tried to breathe through the pain, laid her hands on either side of his face, turning him to face him, as she said, "It's okay, baby, I know you're in pain but don't give up. We'll get it off, I promise. We can do this."

Isaac nodded his head at her words, then lowered his head feeling tears fill his eyes. He could feel his skin healing around the trap, but anytime either one of them moved it around it would cut the wounds open all over again. It was some of the worst pain he had ever felt before.

"We can do this." Teagan mumbled again, as she placed her hands back on the bear trap. She gripped it tight, planning to pull on it again until she felt a slight breeze on the back of her neck like before, then without even meaning to –she began push the trap closed, causing Isaac to yell out in agony as it went deeper into his skin, but she never heard a sound it was like she was in a daze.

"Ow! Damn it! Teagan, stop!" Isaac called out, but when she continued to push the trap closed, he roughly pushed her hands aside as he yelled out her name again.

Teagan snapped her head up in surprise, seeing the pained look on his face she tried to back away from him. As she tried to jump up to her feet, she tripped causing her to fall backwards on her butt.

"Oh, my God." She breathed out, as she raised her hands to cover her mouth, then froze when she saw there was blood on them, Isaac's blood. She shakingly tried to wipe the blood on to her pants as she wondered what the hell just happened. "I'm-I'm... Isaac, I'm so sorry. I-I thought... I was trying to pull it away. I prom-promise I was trying to pull." She cried.

Isaac took several deep breaths, the pain was worse now than it was earlier. He punched at the ground, trying to get his anger out, before he looked over at her and breathed, "It's-It's okay. I know you didn't mean-mean it."

Teagan sat up on her knees, then made her way over to him. She lifted the bottom of her shirt, wiping off the sweat and tears from the side of his face. She knew it wasn't much, but felt like she needed to do something.

Suddenly they heard a loud roar throughout the woods, it was so loud it felt like the ground and trees around them were shaking. Teagan saw Isaac's eyes glow yellow, then with a roar of his own he pulled on the trap, forcing it apart and breaking it in half.

Isaac fell back, laying on the ground, and threw his arm over his eyes, as he breathed out a sigh of relief. His foot was still hurting, but he could already feel it healing lessening the pain. He knew in a few more minutes, it would be completely healed and pain-free.

"Isaac?" Teagan quietly said, as she crawled over to him seeing him lay still. She hoped he was okay, but was expecting the worst the longer he laid there.

As he removed his arm and rolled his head to the side to look at her, he saw her playing with her fingers his blood still stained on them. It was almost like she was too scared and nervous to touch him, fearing she would hurt him again.

"Are you okay?" She questioned with a worried look on her face.

Isaac didn't say anything, as he reached up to grab her arm, pulling her toward him. She laid out beside him on the ground, resting her head on his chest and felt him wrap his arm around her.

Taking in a deep breath and then blowing it out as he kissed the top of her head, he whispered, "I'm okay. We're both okay."

Teagan closed her eyes at his words wishing they were true, but at the moment things didn't feel okay. She thought things were getting better –but now it felt like things were worse than ever.

**~()~**

With a groan of pain Avery sat up and pulled her helmet off as she looked down to her bleeding leg.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked rushing to her side.

With a slightly dazed look she breathed, "What…"

As her eyes moved from his concerned face to where his bike was on it's side on the ground, then back to her hurt leg as her mind slowly pieced the last few minutes back together.

"Oh my god… you're bleeding!" Scott yelled, then quickly apologized for losing control of his bike several moments before.

"What the hell happened?" She asked, finally coming out of the shock induced confusion. One minute they were racing through the woods and the next he'd lost control of the bike and both of them had violently flipped off of it.

He started to shake his head back and forth like he couldn't remember; then it hit him, "Isaac… he's hurt."

Avery's eyes widened as she urged, "Go, find him! He's got Teagan with him, they might be in trouble."

Scott looked over his shoulder towards the direction the pained howl had come from, and then back to Avery as she stared down to her wounded leg.

"I'll call Stiles, I'm not leaving you alone." He said, as he reached down placing his hand on her arm and lessening her pain as he absorbed it into himself.

Watching the veins darken and raise to the surface of his flesh, she breathed a sigh of relief when the painful flesh wound stopped throbbing.

"Thanks." She breathed, appreciating the small break from the pain.

He opened his mouth to apologize again but she cut him off, "It was an accident I'm fine. Just go find Isaac and Teagan."

He gave her an unconvinced look and she took her phone out, "I'll call for Stiles to come and get me… just please go save our friends."

"Stay here, I don't know how bad you're hurt. As soon as I find out what's happening, I'll come back for you." He promised as he stood up and took off running so fast he blurred into tree filled scenery.

"I have been trying to call both you and Scott, what the hell were you doing?" Stiles answered the phone still shaken up from what had happened with Lydia getting her foot caught in one of the traps.

"What is wrong with you?" Avery snapped, looking down to her leg and thinking she was the injured one, he had no right to be mad at her.

"I figured it out, the doll. It wasn't Malia's like we thought, it belonged to her sister. All she wants to do is put it back at the scene of the accident, like flowers on a grave." He explained barely taking a breath as he continued, "And Tate has put traps out, I'm talking bear traps all over the woods… I just got Lydia out of one."

"Is she…"

Already knowing her question before she could finish asking it he eased her nerves, "She's fine."

Avery breathed a sigh of relief and realized Scott had taken off on foot through the woods, he could get caught in one of the traps she quickly ended the call and stood up. Wincing in pain but she knew it was only a flesh wound, no broken bones or sprains.

Taking a deep breath she pushed the pain out of her mind as she took off running in the direction Scott had left in, amazingly enough the faster she ran the less her leg hurt, the endorphins kicked in and for a few brief seconds she felt on top of the world.

As she neared the wrecked car, she was brought to a stop by the earth shaking sound of Scott's roar which forced the werecoyote in front of him to shift back into a human.

With her injured leg throbbing worse than before she limped over to him as he stood up shocked and proud of himself as Malia raised her head and looked around, before staring down to her human fingers in shock.

"You did it…" Avery breathed out, smiling as she looked over to Scott whose face was slowly shifting back to human, taking her phone out she called the sheriff to let him know they'd found Malia.

**~()~**

Several minutes later, Teagan was sitting in the passenger seat of her car as Isaac drove them down the road. After meeting up with the others, making sure everyone was okay, Isaac couldn't keep his eyes off of Teagan.

Between her freak out earlier at Allison's and her behavior in the woods he was worried. They thought things were better for her, that she was back to normal but from the looks of it, the hallucinations were back and worse than before.

When it was time to leave the woods, he held out his hand wanting her keys and was relieved when she handed them over without a word. The last thing she needed to do now was drive.

Isaac turned on to the street she lived on, then glanced over at her from the corner of his eyes, seeing that she was messing with her hands again trying to wipe the dried blood off. He reached out, laying his hand on top of hers, planning to give her hands a squeeze but was surprised when she pulled her hands away.

He softly sighed, running his hand through his hair, as he pulled the car into her driveway. He turned the car off, then turned to face her to speak, but before he could say a word she opened the car door and stepped out.

Isaac jumped out of the car following along behind her, and walked into the house seconds after she did. He glanced around the empty space, wondering where she went, and noticed her father wasn't there; which in his opinion was a good thing. Paul was already against her being involved, and having her walk in with blood on her hands and clothes was not a way to win him over.

Hearing a noise coming from the kitchen, he made his way toward the room and stood in the door way to watch her. She was at the sink, her back toward him, as she tried to wash the blood from her hands. She took a deep, shaky breath, the hallucination and feeling she had in the woods still heavily on her mind.

As she scrubbed her hands, her mind began to wander as she tried to make sense of something that made no sense at all. Why was her mother still haunting her? What exactly did she want, was it to kill her friends, cause if so that was never happening. So did this mean her mother would be haunting her forever? She didn't think she could handle one more day like this, much less her whole life.

"Teagan?" Isaac softly said, as he continued to watch her. He could hear her breathing pick up and knew whatever she was thinking was upsetting her.

He saw her shut the water off, then looked down at her hands some of the blood had come off, but the rest was still therr causing her to let out a small whimper before she turned back and began to wash her hands again.

Isaac took a step into the room, as Aspen ran into the room to join them. The white dog walked over to Teagan, sitting down by her feet and looked up at her, waiting for her to pet him like she normal would, but she was too busy scrubbing her hands to notice him.

Isaac lowered his eyebrows in concern, knowing things had to be worse than he thought if she was ignoring her dog. He walked over to her and Aspen, giving the white dog a small pet, as he grabbed his collar, telling him to follow him, as he opened the back door, letting the dog out into the back yard to play.

He walked back over to Teagan, reaching out to turn the water off, then grabbed her hands, like he did earlier in the car, but this time when he felt her trying to pull them away, he held on to them, refusing her to pull away.

"Teagan..."

"It won't-It won't come off. The blood - your blood, it won't come off." Teagan breathed out, as she kept her head down, looking at their joined hands. "It won't come off." She mumbled a couple of times.

"Hey.." Isaac began to say, as he lightly grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "It's okay. It's going to be okay." He softly said, trying to calm her down.

"It's not." Teagan argued, as tears filled her eyes. "I hurt you. I actually hurt you, Isaac, and now your blood is on my hands. That is not okay."

Isaac shook his head, disagreeing with her, as he said, "It was an accident."

Teagan looked at him for a moment before lowering her head, as she wondered if it really was an accident. Isaac laid a hand on the side of her neck, as he curled his other arm around her waist, pulling her toward him.

He held her close, kissing the top if her head, then resting his head on top of hers, as he continued to hold her a few minutes later. With his arms still around her, he quietly asked, "What did you see?"

"What?" Teagan asked, as she pulled back to look at him.

"Earlier today, at Allison's, when you were in the basement..." He began to say, then continued, "What did you see?"

"Does it matter?" She asked with a shrug. In her opinion it didn't really matter what she saw, it was always something terrible, the real problem was it was happening again when they thought it was over.

"It does to me." Isaac said back. He lightly caressed her cheek, as he added, "Talk to me, babe."

Teagan shook her head, as she stepped back from him. She took a few steps away, running a hand through her head, then turned around to face him, as she said, "I can't. What I saw… was horrible, it was-it was a nightmare. One of my worst nightmares come to life, literally, cause it felt so freaking real. For a moment, I wasn't even sure if I was coming out of it." She wipe away a tear from her cheek, as she quietly added ,"What if I never do? What if I do get stuck in one of these terrible hallucinations, what if I don't come back?"

"Then I'll find you." Isaac said, as he walked over to her. He laid his hands on either side of her face, forcing her to look at him, as he added ,"I'll always find you, Teagan. No matter what."

Teagan nodded her head at his words, as more tears fell down her face. When she felt him pull her toward him again, she buried her face in his shirt and wrapped her arms around his middle, hoping his scent would calm her like it had in the past. She closed her eyes, squeezing them tight, as she faintly heard, _'tuer ou être tué'_, over and over in her head.

**~()~**

After sending Malia off with the sheriff and telling their friends bye, Scott and Avery walked back through the now darkened woods in search of where he'd left his bike.

They walked in silence for a while before he finally looked over at her and said, "I know that –you know there's a reason why I wanted you to come with me."

"You mean besides our connection?" She tried to joke, but he didn't laugh.

"What happened at school earlier?" He questioned, as they slowed their pace some.

"It's ridiculous, Stiles and Teagan both have panic attacks and we go on about our days… yet, I have one and you want to have some long talk about it?"

"I know what happened wasn't just some panic attack. I also know that day you helped me, I saw your eyes… they were black, only for a second but I still saw it." He admitted as he shined the light from his phone on the ground so she could make sure she wasn't going to walk into one of the many traps still spread through the woods.

Crossing her arms over her chest she refused to answer him.

"We may not always agree on how to handle things, in fact we but heads more than we agree, but we're still friends and I'm worried about you." He explained as he put an arm in front of her and stopped her from walking into a trap, since she hadn't been paying attention.

Sighing she breathed out, "What is it with you and Lydia today?"

"Huh?" He asked confused.

"It's not a big deal… but you know how you can take someone's pain? Like how you helped me earlier?" She questioned waiting for him to agree before she continued, "Well, I found out that I can kind of do the same thing… except with emotions."

It took him a few seconds to understand what she was saying before his eyes widened, "That's why you freaked out earlier? You took Stiles' anxiety."

"And the anger and rage that was making you shift that day. But it doesn't matter, because I was able to help you guys." She tried to shrug it off but he didn't let it go.

"You helped us, but at what cost to yourself. This… this isn't normal, the way you not only take emotions but force yourself to feel it…" He started to say but she cut him off.

"Scott, you're a werewolf… and you're going to stand here and tell me that I'm not normal?"

Rolling his eyes at her refusing to take anything seriously he said, "You can't keep doing this, you have to stop using your… abilities."

Seeing an angered expression fall over her face he knew she was pissed, but he was only trying to help her.

"You're not going to tell me what to do. Nobody on the face of this earth tells me what to do. You might be an alpha now and I may be in this pack, but that doesn't mean you control me. And if that's how you think this little alpha –emissary thing is going to work, than I don't want any part of it." Her words were strong and her tone tough.

Nobody could understand what she was going through, and not even Scott knew how much she blamed herself for everything that had happened. From the moment she was aware her friends we're suffering in their own ways from being surrogate sacrificed for their parents, she knew exactly what she had to do; she had to save them even if it cost her –her life.

Scott watched as she turned and walked away, he'd gotten better at handling social situations with her, sure. But trying to navigate around her anger was an entirely different story, he was pretty sure no one knew how to handle her when she was pissed off.

Each step she took ended with a heavy thud of her foot against the hard earth beneath her shoes, as her head spun with anger. It was the exact same angry feeling that raged through her whenever her dad tried to discipline her growing up, and just like then she wasn't about to stand by and let anyone tell her what to do.

"Avery, wait!" Scott called as he jogged after her when it became increasingly clear she wasn't going to come back to him.

He caught up with her, right as she stumbled upon his bike.

"Can we go please? I'm already late for my dinner plans." She sighed heavily as she sent Kira a quick text saying she'd be leaving soon and sorry for the delay.

"I don't know how… this…" He said motioning between them, "Works either. All that I know is you're my friend, now more than ever and I'm still not sure what happened at the distillery that night, but I trust you now a lot more than I did before."

She nodded knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"I've been spending so much time worried about how I'm supposed to be a freaking alpha with my own pack when I couldn't even shift because I felt so out of control and like I was turning into a monster. Stiles has had his own stuff going on, so has Teagan and you've been there for every single one of us." He said, his voice softer than it had been before.

Looking down she picked up the helmet he'd leant her off the ground and looked down to the moon's reflection on the shiny plastic as he continued.

"I don't know, I guess it really didn't occur to me until earlier at school today that you've really been putting your all into trying to fix things, and none of us have been there for you."

"I have to fix this, Scott." She breathed out, her voice so low he could barely hear her.

"Fix what?" He questioned stepping closer and picking up his own helmet.

Lowering her head as she felt tears burn her eyes, she angrily pinched her arm until it hurt bad enough that she was only able to feel the physical pain and not her emotions. Before opening her mouth to speak, "It wasn't some stranger who came and tried to kill Teagan's dad, Stiles' dad and your mom. Not some random, completely psychotic savage who was sacrificing people. It was my mom…"

"Exactly, it was your mom… not you. You didn't hurt anyone and not only do you not to have to fix the mess she made, you have more than done that already. You were actually going to leave town with Deucalion so all of us could stay here, so we could all live." He reminded her.

She nodded and pretended to believe him but he had no idea what was happening inside of her mind. He had no way of knowing that every night when she laid down to try and sleep all she could see when she closed her eyes were the memories of her mom being killed right in front of her; that every time it started to storm she had flashbacks of the storm that almost killed her friends and their parents.

No matter how hard she tried to push the thoughts down and forget about what happened, she just couldn't escape it. The only time she felt any relief was when she drank the feelings away.

"Okay?"

"What?" She asked, not sure what he'd been talking about. She'd been too lost in her own head.

Realizing she hadn't heard him he repeated, "I get that you don't like people pushing you when it comes to… anything really. But you know you can always come to me if something's wrong or you need help, right?"

Forcing a smile and a small laugh she gently pushed him as she said, "Yeah, golden boy… I got it. Now hurry up, Kira's whole family is waiting on me before they start dinner and I'm already late."

"Wait… why are you going to Kiras?" He asked surprised as he picked his bike up, deciding to let it go for the night. The last thing he wanted to do was push her farther away than the distance she already seemed to be keeping herself at.

"We're friends, why? Afraid I'm going to tell her something embarrassing about you?" She teased as she pulled the helmet on.

"No." Scott laughed, "You don't know anything embarrassing about me."

"I wouldn't be so sure, McCall… Stiles has told me somethings about you that are pretty embarrassing."

"What… like what?" He asked, seeming a little nervous at the idea of a life time of embarrassing moments Stiles could have told her.

"I don't have the time to list them all, I need to get back to my house to get my car! Come on!" she impatiently said motioning to the bike.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you're all still liking the story.**

**Miss E Charlotte and I would like to take a moment and thank everyone who has been reviewing and who has added this story to their favorites and/or subscribed for alerts. ^_^**


	10. Looking At A Stranger

**Chapter 10 - Looking At A Stranger**

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><p>Pulling to a stop outside of the house matching the address Kira sent her, Avery practically ran from her car to the door as she rang the bell.<p>

"Hey, I was wondering if you were going to show up." Kira greeted with a smile as she allowed her new friend inside of the house.

"I'm sorry." Avery apologized pulling in a deep breath as she continued to ramble slightly, "I kept telling Scott to hurry but he's just so slow sometimes."

"Wait… what?" Kira asked with wide eyes not understanding what Avery was talking about as she reached forward and pulled a leaf from the blonde's hair.

Realizing it must have been there since the wreck and that Scott had seen her plenty times after, in lighting well enough to have surly been able to see that leaf in her hair she muttered, "What a jerk, I know he saw that and didn't even tell me…"

"Kira, is that our guest?"

Yelling over her shoulder she answered her mother, "Yeah, mom. Avery's here."

"Check me, is there anymore?" Avery asked as she turned around and shook her head back forth trying to get any ground debris from her locks.

"I don't see anymore." Kira admitted truthfully wondering what the teenagers were doing for Avery to end up with leaves in her hair.

"Thanks." She said flashing her a smile as she fluffed her hair, "When he dropped me off, I didn't have time to do much else but change clothes. Guess I probably should have taken the time to glance in a mirror."

Kira's jaw dropped as everything she said was making it sound worse by the second, but she didn't really have time to respond as her friend walked right past her farther into the house.

Hearing Avery greeting her parents, Kira looked down to the leaf in her hands and closed her eyes for a few seconds. There had been times she'd seen Avery and Scott interacting that it had made her wonder if they were together, especially the day she saw her grab Scott's hand and pull him into an empty classroom.

But then again Avery did so many strange things, like following her around so much and asking her questions like, 'what are you', that Kira considered maybe they were just friends and she'd been reading too much into it. And then Avery had specifically told her to give the research to Scott, but then while she was stuttering through her conversation with him she'd seen her wink at him. Had she only done that to be mean?

"Kira!" Her dad repeated.

Spinning around and dropping the leaf to the floor she asked, "Yeah?"

"What are you doing in here? Dinner's already running behind." He reminded his teenage daughter motioning for her to come into the dining room.

When she walked into the dining room she saw Avery had her charm on high as she was not only talking to her mom, but also making her laugh. A surprising sight considering not too long before that her mom had been complaining about how rude it was for someone to show up late to dinner.

"Oh, Kira, there you are. I've just been talking to your friend here." Noshiko said, taking a drink from her glass as she smiled at her daughter.

"I see that." Kira said softly as she sat down next to her friend and wondered how Avery so effortlessly got people to like her. Back at her old school, she wasn't exactly popular but she had plenty of friends. But now in Beacon Hills, every time she opened her mouth she did nothing but say all of the wrong things.

"Oh my god." Avery breathed out as she sniffed the air again when her friend's dad brought a large, glass baking dish into the dining room with them, "That smells amazing!"

"It's just lasagna." Kira shrugged.

When her dad set the serving dish down in the middle of the table, Avery's light brown eyes widened as she gasped, "Like, homemade lasagna?"

With a laugh Mr. Yukimura said, "Yes, it's homemade."

Her jaw dropped as she exclaimed, "I've only ever heated frozen ones up or ordered them from restaurants before." With an excited chuckle she clapped her hands together and admitted, "I'm so excited!"

Kira and her parents all laughed at her reaction as her dad cut the lasagna and served them each a piece of it.

As they ate and made small talk a pang of jealousy ran through her as she realized this was probably a normal evening for them, delicious homemade food and family conversations. Looking down to her empty plate she thought of how even Teagan and her dad managed to make time for family dinners, which she was of course always invited too. But it just wasn't the same.

"Here." Kira said with a laugh as she scooped more of the lasagna out onto her friend's plate.

"Thanks." Avery smiled, "I feel like such a pig, but honestly… this is the best lasagna I've ever eaten. Thank you for having me over."

"We're glad you could make it, I know Kira hasn't had the easiest time making friends here." Noshiko added in as she pointed her fork towards her daughter who was across the table from her.

"Mom!" Kira exclaimed shaking her head back and forth, it was bad enough that her dad constantly embarrassed her at school, but now her mom was doing the same thing in front of the only friend she'd managed to make.

"Well, Beacon Hills is pretty small… most of the kids at school have lived here their whole lives and sort of have their own little cliques." Avery explained.

"Did you grow up here?" Mr. Yukimura asked as he took a drink to wash his food down.

"Yeah, I did. But I've learned that you have to be open to making new friends…" An almost pained look fell over her face as she thought of how she hadn't known how great Erica and Boyd were until right before she lost them both. "Sometimes the nicest people and greatest friends you can meet come from just being open and not judging someone."

"Wise words coming from someone so young." Noshiko said with a smile.

Avery nodded and took another bite of her food as she tried to push the memories of losing her friends from her head.

As she finished off her second piece of lasagna while the others finished up their first, Kira's dad pointed out, "You really do like the lasagna."

"It's amazing!" She motioned around the room as she said, "Not just the food, but this whole thing, the way you guys sit down and eat dinner together…"

"You don't sit down for dinner with your own parents?" Noshiko questioned as she wiped her mouth with the cloth napkin.

"It's just me and my dad, and he's always busy with something for work. He normally eats alone in his office and most days I just grab something on my way home from school, or heat up a microwave dinner." She admitted, turning her attention to Kira when she cleared her throat.

"Where's your mom?"

"Kira." Her mother quietly scolded, causing the teen to close her eyes in disbelief at herself. She'd managed to do it again, say the wrong thing.

Avery's gaze fell to her empty plate as she quietly said, "My mom… she's… uh, she's dead."

Kira quickly started to apologize for bringing it up as her parent's both stammered out condolences and apologies.

But their voices sounded far away as right before her eyes she saw the pasta sauce change into blood and start to run off her plate.

Gasping she jumped up so quick it knocked the chair over behind her, the loud crash snapping her from the hallucination as she could now clearly see there wasn't any blood.

"Are you alright?" Mr. Yukimura asked, also jumping to his feet as Kira picked up the fallen chair.

"I'm so sorry… I just started to feel a little sick all of a sudden. Um, where's the bathroom?" She asked feeling like the room was spinning around her.

Barely picking up on what Kira's mom had told her she stumbled down the hallway holding onto the walls as she went until she was in a bathroom, shutting the door behind her she took a deep breath and gripped onto the sink.

Letting out a frustrated noise she angrily shook her head back and forth. She couldn't do this, she simply could not break down every time her mom was brought up, and she also had to stop these disturbing visions she was having. Nightmares were bad enough and seeing her mom's reflection when she looked in the mirror, terrifying; but to hallucinate in a room with other people was simply unacceptable and it had to stop. Much more of this and people would start to talk about her being crazy, with an exasperated sigh she briefly considered that maybe she was losing her mind after all.

Dinner was over, now all she needed to do was collect herself enough to make it out of the house. If she could just make it home, she had a half gone bottle of alcohol on her nightstand.

Pulling open the door, Avery started back down the hallway but stopped as she saw the door leading into a room she knew had to be Kira's was open.

Taking a detour on her way back to the dining room, she walked into the teenagers room and looked around. She did like Kira, but she still couldn't get over the electric surging feel in the air around the new student.

She absentmindedly flipped through a few notebooks on her desk, looked through the small make-up organizer on top of her dresser and was currently opening the closet when Kira walked in and asked, "I guess you're feeling better?"

Spinning around Avery smiled, "Much better thank you."

Nodding Kira awkwardly glanced around and questioned, "Why are you snooping through my room?"

"I'm not snooping." Avery defended then shrugged it off as she reasoned, "I was just looking for that skirt you had on the other day…"

Kira opened her mouth to speak, but Avery cut her off a she pulled a hanger from the closet with the short, gathered fabric black skirt as she said, "Here it is. I'm borrowing this."

"Oh… okay." Kira stuttered out.

Avery pulled the closet doors shut and said, "You're welcome to come over to my house and look through my closets sometime."

"Closets…"

"Mhmm." She hummed, "there's the one in my room, the hallway closet, the one in the guest room Teagan always stays in and I've recently set up a few clothing racks in another guest room."

"Oh… wow…" Kira breathed out, her jaw hung open in surprise.

As her phone went off Avery pulled it from her pocket and saw it was Jared, letting her know he'd finished her English project and she needed to have his money in the morning.

"Is that Scott?" Kira tried to nonchalantly question as she almost missed the edge of her bed trying to sit down.

"No… why?" she asked with arched eyebrows as she sent him a text back and put her phone away.

"Oh, no reason… I just see you guys together all the time." She shrugged trying to appear like it didn't bother her.

Hiding her smirk Avery said, "Yeah we're really good friends now."

"Oh, I thought… I mean are you guys, I… uh…" she stammer not sure how to word her question.

"For god sakes, Kira. If you want to know something just ask me, we're friends."

Nodding and gathering her courage she quietly asked, "So you and Scott… you're not dating or anything?"

Her gaze fell to the floor as she realized how entirely obvious she was being.

"Ha, no way… McCall couldn't handle me." Avery said with a wink as she laughed.

"I wasn't asking for any certain reason… just wondering." She stuttered out as a smile now fell over her lips.

With a small laugh Avery said, "If you can't be subtle, at least learn to own it."

"I'm subtle…" Kira started to argue but Avery cut her off with a laugh.

"Oh, before I forget!" Kira exclaimed as she grabbed her book bag and pulled a new notebooks out, she said, "I know you don't like your other notebook, so I copied your notes down in this one… without the drawings of the birds."

Flipping through it Avery smiled as she said, "That was really sweet, thank you."

"No problem."

Raising her head Avery said, "I like you Kira, and because I like you I'm going to tell you that I see the way you look at Scott, and I also see the way he looks back at you. From my completely objective third party point of view, I think there's something there and I think you should just go for it."

Her mouth hung open as she wasn't sure how to respond to her at all.

"But you should also know that even though I do like you, I also know there is something strange about you… I can't put my finger on, but Scott and I have this connection and he's probably the nicest guy I know, so if you hurt him in any way… I'll have to kick your ass."

"Connection?" Kira questioned, her mind was racing trying to process everything she'd just been told.

Just as Avery started to say something, her friends mom walked in the room and said, "Here, take this home with you and whenever you finish it just bring the container to Kira."

Avery took the Tupperware container from Noshiko and raised it up to look through the clear bottom and realized it was the rest of the lasagna from their dinner.

"Thank you so much!" She exclaimed with a wide smile before saying bye to her new friend and her parents.

**~(A few days later…)~**

Teagan wiped the sweat from her forehead, as she started to punch the training dummy in front of her. She was out at Avery's old family house. The one; she, Avery and Allison used when they first started training together. The three would still meet up there sometimes to train, run the trails or shoot guns since the property was out in the middle of nowhere.

On this day, Avery was supposed to be meeting her out there to practice some self-defense moves Allison recently showed them. Teagan walked away from the dummy and grabbed her water bottle, taking a big swallow, then grabbed her cell phone, looking at the time as she tried to catch her breath, and saw that Avery was running late.

She was in the middle of sending Avery a text, when she heard the front door open. Without looking up, she called out,"About time you got your ass here. What took so damn long?"

"Not the greeting I was hoping for." She heard Isaac say, causing her to snap her head up to look at him.

"What are you doing here?" Teagan snapped, causing him to raise his eyebrows.

"I wasn't expecting that greeting either." Isaac added, as he walked further into the room. He looked at her closely, seeing the dark circles under her eyes again and knew that meant she wasn't sleeping well like before, even thought she kept telling him she was fine.

It had been few days since they helped save Malia and turned her back into a human and while things were a little better for some of them, the rest; like Teagan, were not doing so well.

She didn't sleep often, but when she did, the nightmares were back. They were all similar to the hallucination she had at Allison's in each one she was hurting or killing someone she loved. The others made appearances in the nightmares, but the last few days it was only Isaac she was hurting causing her to pull away from him; which he noticed and was the reason he was there now.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way." Teagan apologized, seeing the look on his face. "It's just, Avery is on her way we're suppose to train today, so I don't have time-"

"Avery's not coming." Isaac interrupted. When she shot him a confused look, he added, "I asked her not to. We need to talk Teagan, and every time lately I've tried to get you to talk, you have some excuse or reason why now is not the right time -but no more running. We have to talk about this."

As she sighed and turned her head, avoiding looking at him, he continued, "Since helping Malia; Scott and Stiles are doing better, but you're not."

"I'm getting better." Teagan lied, as she turned her head to look at him concentrating on keeping her heart beat steady; which was something Allison had taught them recently.

Isaac shook his head, as he walked over to her, coming to a stop in front of her. He reached out to lightly run his thumb under her eye, as he said, "At not sleeping, maybe." He lowered his eyes to look at her chest hearing her heart beat, then scoffed, as he continued, "And at lying, but you're not getting better, Teagan."

Teagan took a few steps away from him turning around, as she softly said his name; planning to throw out an excuse to explain things away, but before she could say anything else he grabbed her arm, turning her back around.

"No, no more turning away, Teagan. You think I couldn't feel you pulling away from me again? Talk to me! Don't shut me out again. Whatever it is, whatever is happening to you, we can get through it together."

"Hey, no, don't do that." He added, as she shook her head at his words. He laid his hands on either side of her face, forcing her to look at him, as he continued, "What do we always say? It's you and me. Teagan, let me in!"

"I'm not-I'm not trying to shut you out, Isaac." Teagan cried. "I'm just... I'm so scared. The things I see, the things I hear and feel; I hate it and I don't know how to make it stop. I just want it to stop!" She yelled.

"Tell me what to do, babe, tell me how to make this better." Isaac said, with a pained look; hating to see her hurting this way and there was nothing he could do.

"Just drop it." Teagan suggested with a small shrug. "Don't make me talk about it, don't make me repeat the things that I do that keep me awake at night. Living it once is already hard enough." She added, her eyes pleading with him.

"Okay." Isaac whispered with a small nod. It's not what he wanted to do, but he heard the pain in her voice and knew talking about it; at least now, was not going to help anything.

"Anything else?" He asked.

"You can hold me." Teagan softly said, hoping his embrace would help calm her like it usually did.

"Anytime." Isaac said back, with a small smile, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her toward him. He ran a hand up her back, cradling the back of her head as he took a deep breath and slowly released it with a relieved sigh. He had missed holding her in his arms over the last few days.

"I'm sorry, Isaac, about everything." Her muffled voice said, as she had her face pressed against his chest.

"You don't have to apologize for anything. None of this is your fault." Isaac pointed out.

"Will you promise me something?" Teagan asked, as she raised her head to look at him. Without even thinking, he nodded his head, but if he knew what she was about to ask, he never would have.

She nervously bit her bottom lip, as she locked eyes with him, then began to say, "If it gets bad, I mean really bad, I need you to stay away from me. Far, far, away from me."

"What?" Isaac asked in shocked, as he took a step back from her. He shook his head, as he said, "No. I'm not promising that."

"Isaac..."

"No!" He interrupted. "No, the only promise I can make you, is that I will never leave you. I will never walk away, I will never give up, those are the promises I have made to you, Teagan, and those are the only ones I will keep."

"And what if I hurt you again?" Teagan questioned, as she tilted her head to the side, shooting him a look. "Did you forget the other day, in the woods, when I was pushing the trap further closed on your foot? Did you forget all about that?" She continued, as she took a few steps toward him.

"That was an accident." Isaac stated. There was no doubt in his mind that she didn't mean to do it.

"Was it?" Teagan questioned, as she came to a stop in front of him. He lowered his eyebrows in confusion, when he briefly saw a smirk on her face. He took a step back from her bumping into a table that had some weapons set out on it.

Teagan took another step toward him, then leaned toward him to grab a dagger from the table. She kept her eyes on him, as she straightened back up, playing with the dagger by running her finger lightly over the blade with an unreadable look on her face.

"And what if it wasn't an accident? What if I meant to do it?" She continued questioning. She laid the blade against him; lightly running it across his chest, as she whispered out, "What if I liked it?"

"Teagan?" Isaac said, as he stared at the girl in front of him, the one giving him a look that looked nothing like his loving and caring girlfriend.

"Hmm?" She questioned, as she looked up at him, biting her bottom lip. Before he could say anything else, she added, "Now answer me something, if all of that was true, would you run? Would you run far from me and never look back?"

He grabbed the blade, removing it from his chest, as he shook his head and said, "Never. I would never run -no matter what, Teagan. You know that."

"Then you're a fool." Teagan said with a scoff, as she pulled the dagger away; causing it to slice his hand open since he still had his hand wrapped around the blade.

"Ow! Damn it!" Isaac called out, as he held up his hand, watching the cut heal up.

"Oops." Teagan said with a shrug as she took a few steps back.

Isaac looked over at her, he didn't know if he should be pissed, confused or worried by her behavior. He stepped up to her with a growl, jerking the dagger from her hand and slamming it down on the table, before looking back at her, as he snapped, "What the hell was that about?"

"You're angry, good." Teagan said, then added, "You should be."

"What the hell is wrong with you, Teagan?" He asked, as he lowered his eyebrows in confusion.

"Get mad, Isaac." Teagan said, as she reached out to shove him. "Get pissed." She added, pushing him. "Yell, scream, fight me!" She continued, as she laid her hands on his chest and shoved him backwards.

Isaac fell back against the table and looked over at her with a shocked look on his face. His eyes flashed yellow and felt his canines sliding out of his gums. He let out a snarl, then pushed himself away from the table, before rushing over toward her. She dropped down, sliding her leg out and moved it toward him, knocking him flat on his back on the floor.

She quickly threw her leg over him, straddling him, then grabbed his arms and pining them to the floor above his head. "Is that all you got, Isaac?" She taunted.

Isaac shot her a look, he couldn't figure out why she was doing this. What exactly was she trying to prove? And why did he feel like he was staring at a stranger when he looked into her eyes right now.

In a flash, he rolled them over, he was now on top while she was under him and he had her arms pinned. He saw her close her eyes, then saw her moving her lips, as she talked to herself, but he couldn't read her lips to figure out what she was saying.

A few, long, minutes later she opened her eyes, looking right at him and looking more like herself; looking like the girl he fell in love with. She began to pant, trying to catch her breath. When he saw a lone tear slide down her face, he sat back on his heels releasing her arms.

She sat up some, leaning back on her arms, as she whispered, "I-Isaac, I'm so-sorry."

"What the hell was that, Teagan?" He questioned.

"I don't- I don't..." Teagan began to say, then shook her head as she lowered her head. She took a deep breath slowly releasing it, then lifted her head to look at him again, before continuing, "I was, um, I was just trying to scare you and got carried away."

"Well, mission accomplished. You scared the shit out of me." Isaac said, as he stood up from the floor.

"I'm sorry." Teagan whispered, as she lowered her head feeling guilty for scaring him and hurting him, as well as lying to him. To be honest, she had no idea what just happened.

"Come on." He softly said, as he held out a hand, offering to help her up.

Teagan looked up at him for a moment, a part of her scared to even take his hand but knew if she didn't he would just have even more questions than he already had. She laid a shaky hand in his and felt him pull her up from the floor.

Once on her feet, she tried to look at anything other than him, but couldn't avoid his eyes anymore, when he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"I don't know what point you were just not trying to prove, but it's not going to work." Isaac began to say, assuming she was trying to scare him away, make him promise he would leave her if it got bad. "I told you, nothing is going to make me run from you. It's you and me."

Teagan felt tears fill her eyes, and bit her bottom lip, trying to keep them from spilling out, as she nodded her head at his words. Seeing her agree with him, he breathed out a sigh of relief, then pulled her toward him.

He kissed the top of her head, letting a breathy laugh, as he said, "Don't ever scare me like that again, okay?"

"Okay." Teagan whispered, hoping this was one promise she wouldn't break.

**~()~**

Avery pulled to a stop at a red light all of her windows down and rock music blaring so loudly through her speakers it made her car shake.

Not even glancing over to the car next to her she took her hands off the wheel and pulled her hair up into a loose bun on the top of her head.

Hearing the loud sound of an engine revving she glanced over to see a guy looking to be mid-twenties also in a classic car, she couldn't tell what kind it was but she still appreciated its classic beauty.

He nodded at her as he revved his engine again.

Biting down on her bottom lip she looked forward again remembering how alive she felt the night she'd been speeding down the empty stretch of road.

Looking over at him again she ran her tongue over her bottom lip before smirking at him and revving her own engine.

As soon as the light turned green, both cars raced off, full speed ahead. Raising forward in her seat some she smiled widely as the cool night air whipped in around her, and for a few moments she felt whole again. Like she wasn't just enjoying the night air, but more like her every cell was absorbing and relishing in the cold sting.

Their engines roared loudly as both cars stayed almost neck in neck down the stretch of hi-way, both of them racing through the next red light without a second thought, or glance to see if anyone was coming down the side streets. When she was able to pull into the lead, she cheered loudly with the music for herself. But the carefree mood was ruined when her mirrors were full of the familiar red and blue flashing lights.

She knew she should slow down, but she felt too alive to be stopped tonight. Chances were she knew the town better than whatever officer was tailing them, she could out run them and pull behind an abandoned building or something. Glancing down to her gauges she decided she was going for it, she was going to outrun the police.

But just as she looked up she gasped as the guy in the other car quickly swerved into her lane right in front of her and his tires screeched as he whipped around the corner onto the residential street she'd planned to exit on.

His sudden and dangerous move forced her to apply pressure to the brakes and close her eyes, praying to god she didn't slam into the side of his car, that would surely be the death of them both.

As her car slowed and then came to a sudden halting stop, she pushed against the wheel, keeping herself in her seat. Her breathing was erratic, not only from the high she was feeling, but from rage at the other driver getting away.

Shutting her car off she leaned back into her leather seat and tried to catch a breath as she hoped it was Parrish pulling her over again, she got out of a reckless driving ticket once before with him, surely she could flirt her way out of another one.

"Avery?"

Sighing she opened her eyes at the familiar voice and forced a smile, "Hi, Sheriff Stilinski."

He stared at her with a shocked expression before he finally found his voice, "What the hell are you doing!"

She cringed from his raised voice and her mind raced to think up an excuse, but what could she possibly say to get out of this one?

He didn't give her much of a chance to speak as he continued to yell, "Street racing? Come on!"

Taking a deep breath and trying to control his breathing and stop yelling at the teenager, he rubbed a hand over his face and in a quieter voice said, "Avery, you were literally seconds away from slamming into that other car."

"I know…"

But he didn't let her get a word in as his voice raised again, "My night could have ended with having to call your dad to come to the morgue and claim your body!"

She stared at him wide eyed, hardly able to believe that he was actually yelling at her.

Closing his eyes and trying to control his anger he shook his head as all he could see was the deadly accident she'd narrowly avoided, he'd almost watched one of his son's best friends, a teenager he'd grown fond of, die right in front of him.

With a quiet voice she reminded him, "You're supposed to be keeping your stress levels in check."

Opening his eyes he shot her a look, letting her know the entire thing was her fault as he pointed a finger at her and started to yell some more but the radio attached to his uniform went off.

"Sheriff?"

"I'll deal with you in a minute…" He said angrily shaking the finger he had pointed at her before he clicked the microphone on and said, "Yeah, go ahead Parrish."

"We located the other car you called in."

Noticing he only said the car and not the driver he questioned, "The driver?"

"D.O.A. The cars wrapped around a tree, sir."

There was a pause of silence and Avery diverted her eyes from Stiles' dad's angry expression.

"Alright Parrish, you know the drill." The sheriff said, knowing he didn't need to tell the young deputy who all he needed to call to the scene.

"Dead on arrival, did you hear that?" He yelled, leaning down and resting his hands on her car door.

"I know what D.O.A means…" She quietly whispered.

"Well that could have you been you!"

Nodding she kept avoiding his eyes.

"Why the hell were you racing with someone?" He pushed, trying to wrap his head around her dangerous, reckless behavior.

Shrugging and finally looking at him with a hopeless expression she whispered, "To feel free…"

The look on her face made him hurt for her, but he was still shaken up from what he'd just seen.

"I still don't understand a lot of this, but from what Stiles tells me… you went through a lot to make sure we all came home safe. Now, I can't imagine what kind of pressure that puts on a person, but what I do know is that whatever is going on inside of you… this isn't the way to solve it! This kind of behavior isn't going to do anything but land you six feet under!" He said as he pulled the ticket notepad from his pocket and started to try and scribble things down.

"Am I getting a ticket?" She quietly asked, peering up at him through her open window.

"Are you getting…" He sighed, so angered he could hardly even form a sentence, "Yes, you're getting a ticket!"

She continued to watch him with wide eyes as he tried to write with shaky hands, she'd never seen him so angry before.

Finally giving up when his writing wasn't the least bit legible he shoved the book back in his pocket and said, "Everyone in this town has lost enough, we don't need to bury you too… I never want to see you do anything like this again, okay?"

When she didn't respond, he asked louder, "Do you understand me? Never again!"

"I understand you… you just fathered the crap out of me." She admitted, not able to hide her shocked expression.

"Well it looks like someone needed to." He said before he took a deep breath and said, "I'm serious, if I see you do anything like this again I'll not only yank your license, I'll also have your car impounded."

As he turned around to head back to his car, she leaned out of her window and asked, "Can you really do that?"

Pausing but not turning around he yelled, "I can and I will. Now put your seatbelt on."

Leaning back in her car she reached over and clipped her seatbelt on for the first time that night, and slowly started her car, a sinking feeling in her stomach at how much she'd stressed him out and at the way he'd talked to her; her own dad had never said anything like that to her and now she felt ashamed of her actions. A feeling she wasn't at all used to.

Turning her radio all the way off she drove home in silence, not only with her seatbelt on, but also coming to complete stops and signaling for every turn.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN – Thank you all so much for reading! We really put so much time and work into this story, and it's so great to be able to share it with you all! **

**If you have time, we'd really appreciate it if you'd leave a review and let us know! **


	11. The Hot Girl

**Chapter 11 - The Hot Girl**

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><p>"You have got to be kidding me!" Avery muttered as she parked her car at school and saw the twins taking their helmets off as they sat on their parked motorcycles.<p>

As she gathered her school bag she saw them approaching Scott, and she broke into a run to see what they where there for.

"You're back in school?" Scott questioned them.

"No, just to talk." Ethan admitted.

"We're not interested." Avery snapped as she grabbed Scott's arm and started to pull him away, but Stiles joined the conversation, as he chimed in,"'Oh, well that's kind of a change of pace for you guys. Seeing as how usually you're just hurting, maiming, and killing."

"You need a pack, we need an alpha." Aiden pointed out, focusing his attention on Scott.

"No way." Avery snapped at the same time Stiles sarcastically replied, "That's hilarious though."

"You came to us for help, we helped." Ethan reminded them, causing Avery to roll her eyes.

"You beat his face into a bloody pulp. That's not helping, in my opinion that's actually counter-productive." Stiles argued.

"Why would I even say yes?" Scott finally managed to get a word in between his friends constant snapping at the former alphas.

"We'd add strength, we'd make you more powerful." Aiden continued to try and sell the idea but Avery took a step closer, partially in front of Scott as she laughed taunting the twins.

"He's a true alpha, so he doesn't really need you in the pack to be powerful. None of us care that you're back to being omegas, you know the bitches."

Aiden's eyes started to glow blue as her words did exactly what she'd intended and got under his skin.

Grabbing her arm with a sigh, Scott pulled her back to where she had been standing beside him and Ethan laid an arm in front of his brother's chest as he looked to Scott and said, "There's no reason to say no."

While Stiles made an amused face at the remark, Avery angrily yelled, "I can think of literally a million reasons!"

"Top of that list being when you two held Derek's claws out while Kali impaled Boyd." Isaac announced as he and Teagan joined the group.

Letting go of his girlfriend's hand he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the former alphas. Teagan looked between the group, she didn't need werewolf senses to know tensions were at an all-time high.

"Don't forget that when you came to us for help, we helped."

Avery rolled her eyes not even paying attention to which one of them had said it, "Do you know what Derek had to do with Boyd's body after he died? He had to take him and leave him in the woods for someone to stumble across because we obviously couldn't just call the police."

Both twins looked at her as she took a deep breath and continued, "While the two of you are busy patting each other on the back for being even remotely helpful for once in your pathetic lives, just know that I every time I look at you all I'll ever see are monsters who killed one of my best friends. After they found his body, I was there at his funeral. I stood next to mother when they lowered him in the ground, so don't you dare come to any of us acting like we owe you a damn thing. Because the only thing you'll get from me is slow, agonizing death."

Teagan turned her head and looked at her friend, not she didn't disagree, but it still worried her when Avery started to let that amount of anger show through. The troubling part of it was that if that much anger was coming, there was a ton more rage she was holding inside.

"In fact, I don't know why we're not impaling them right now." Isaac chimed in, in complete agreement with Avery as Stiles nodded his head.

Raising his head Aiden's fang showed as his eyes glowed blue, letting out a growl he asked, "You wanna try?"

An amused look spread over Isaac's face as he gently pushed Teagan back some allowing him room to fight if he needed it.

"You hear that, Isaac?" Avery taunted as he nudged his arm and said, "He thinks he can take us."

"Yeah, we'll he's got another coming." Isaac growled his eyes glowing yellow as he started forward, but Teagan quickly grabbed his arm.

"Isaac, stop. We're at school." Teagan reminded him, her voice immediately soothing him and becoming his own voice of reason.

"Everybody stop!" Scott said loudly as he looked around the group then turned his attention back to the twins, "Sorry, but they don't trust you."

"No, he's not sorry." Avery corrected.

Glancing over at her and then back to the brothers he admitted, "I don't trust you either."

With a smirk Avery stepped forward again, placing her hands between their upper arms and then pushing them apart as she walked past with her head held high. The rest of the group followed after her.

Once they were inside of the school, Stiles ducked to narrowly avoid a roll of toilet paper someone was throwing through the halls.

Teagan watched as Avery and Scott walked off one way, she was obviously letting him know she wasn't happy he'd even given Ethan and Aiden the time of day.

Isaac gave her a quick kiss before saying he'd catch up with her in a little bit, that he needed to get something from his locker.

Taking a deep breath, her dark brown eyes scanned the hallway full of laughing students, excited and playing pranks since it was almost Halloween. She knew she needed to be there –had to be there, but at that moment school was the last place on earth she wanted to be.

Every day she felt like she could relate to everyone else less and less. They were worried about their grades, and pimples… who asked who out and what party they should go to for the upcoming holiday. But her entire world was crumbling in around her.

"Teagan?" Stiles asked waving a hand in front of her face.

"Huh?" She stammered caught off guard and shaken from her thoughts.

Turning to look at him she watched as he opened his mouth and said, ""Tuer ou être tué."

Her jaw dropped and the color drained from her face as she gasped, "What…"

Confused by her sudden reaction he repeated, "I said I need to talk to you about something."

Taking a deep breath she shook her head and as she walked away from him towards her locker, trying to keep calm despite the fact that she didn't know what was happening to her anymore.

"Uh, it's important!" Stiles called, nearly tripping over his own feet as he raced off after her.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little distracted today." She mumbled under her breath as she reached her locker.

"Well then focus Teagan, this is important. It's about Avery."

Seeming to not notice that his friend was still, indeed, very distracted he began to ramble, "So my dad had to take a graveyard patrol shift last night, the station is really short staffed."

"Mhmm." Teagan hummed as she tried to remember what books she needed to get for her morning classes.

"So… he saw these two cars racing down 14th street, like pedal to the metal, not even stopping for red lights racing."

"Stiles, do you still have my pre-cal book?" She asked, remembering a few days ago when she'd passed the book to him in between classes because he'd forgotten his.

Shaking his head in shock at her he said, "Are you just not putting two and two together here, Teagan? It was Avery! Avery was one of the driver's that was racing!"

Finally snapped out of her haze she turned sideways and gasped, "In her Mustang?"

"Yeah!"

"My dad told me because he yelled at her about it and he was worried she might take it out on me today, but she's acting like nothing happened." He explained seeing the worried expression on her face grow.

"It gets worse…"

"How? How does that get any worse?" Teagan asked, thinking something must really be bothering her best friend, because Avery would never risk even putting a scratch on her car, let alone wrecking it.

"The other driver… he hit a tree and died on impact. That's how fast they were going… if that had been Avery…"

"I know." Teagan frowned as she shut her locker door and their pair started down the hallway.

"I was going to talk to her myself, but you know she's going to mad and in case you've failed to notice –she's slightly terrifying when she's pissed." He said as he stopped at his locker.

Teagan nodded, as the made a mental note to get Avery alone that day to talk to her about this. She'd been so focused on her own problems that she hadn't really noticed how bad off Avery had gotten. Closing her eyes she realized Avery taking Isaac to some shady bar on the outskirts of town should have been a red flag.

"Who's scary when they're angry? Avery?" Scott guessed catching the last of Stiles' sentence as he'd neared them.

"You called it." Stiles said as he opened his locker and glanced around before pulling a carton of eggs from his bag and putting them in his locker for later that day.

"Speaking of… weren't you just with her?" Teagan asked, raising her gaze to Scott as he leaned against the row of lockers.

"I was, but then she left to find Jared." He explained, his voice trailing off as he spotted Kira across the hallway, fumbling with her book bag as she dropped some papers to the floor.

"Still paying him to do her homework?" Stiles questioned, but Scott didn't respond.

"You know he gets her better grades than himself…" Stiles said with a slightly stunned expression at the realization.

Noticing Scott wasn't listening to him –he asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Me? Uh, nothing… you." He rambled, causing Teagan to raise her eyebrows at him before looking behind her to see Kira trying to cram her folders into her book bag.

"That's Kira, right?" Teagan asked, recalling the girl's name.

"Yeah, yeah. She's okay… she's new."

Teagan smiled at seeing Scott seeming to grow nervous as Stiles nonchalantly said, "So ask her out."

"Now?"

"Yes now." Stiles assured him as he shut his locker.

Teagan took her phone out and stared down to the time, wishing she had more time before first period started to talk to Avery, but she didn't.

Walking with her two friends she laughed as Stiles said, "Scott, I don't think you get it yet. You're an alpha, you're the apex predator."

"Everyone wants you." Teagan joked, trying to focus on the here and now, rather than her terrifying hallucinations.

Nodding Stiles added, "You're like the hot girl that every guy wants."

"The hot girl?" Scott asked.

Isaac walked up to the group and slid an arm around Teagan's waist as he looked around the trio, wondering that conversation he'd just walk into.

"You are the hottest girl." Stiles assured him as he smacked him on the shoulder before walking off towards his class.

Seeing a shocked expression on Scott's face and Teagan holding back laughter Isaac asked, "What did I just walk into…"

"I'm the hot girl." Scott realized.

Still not sure what was happening, Isaac agreed, "Yes you are."

Laughing Scott adjusted the straps to his book bag and smiled proudly as he walked away with a new found pep in his step.

"I don't understand." Isaac admitted, laughing.

Smiling and for a few seconds feeling like herself she shrugged, "Scott's the hot girl."

Turning to face her he held onto her sides as he leaned down pressing a kiss to her lips before resting his forehead against hers as he said, "Pretty sure that role is already taken by my badass, hot girlfriend."

**~()~**

Teagan sighed as she opened her locker door and began to change out her books. The day was not even half over yet, but she was ready to go home –hide out in her bedroom and ignore the world. She could still faintly hear her mother's voice in her head, but kept trying to ignore it which was tiring and since she wasn't getting much sleep anyways, it made things even worse.

As if that wasn't bad enough, she also haven't had a chance to talk to Avery yet which made her feel like the world's worst friend; her best friend was spiraling out of control and she had been too distracted to even notice.

With a sigh, she reached back to lay a hand on her shoulder trying to loosen up the tight muscles. She only got to do a few squeezes, when she felt someone brush her hand aside, then felt them place their hands on both her shoulders, giving her a massage.

She softly smiled to herself, knowing it was Isaac. She leaned back against his chest, then rolled her head to the side with a groan. Isaac grinned as he leaned down to kiss the side of her neck that was exposed, before whispering in her ear, "Feel better, babe?"

"Mm-hm. That feels so good." She quietly moaned.

He kissed the side of her neck again, grinning against her skin, as he said, "If you keep moaning like that I'm gonna have to do something else that makes you feel good."

Teagan's mouth dropped open in surprise at his comment. She turned around and playfully slapped his shoulder as said, "You need to behave. We are at school."

"So?" Isaac said back, as he raised his eyebrows with a grin on his face. "It's clear to see you're stressed and I'm just suggesting a good way to relieve that stress." He added with a shrug.

Teagan bit her bottom lip in thought as she glanced around the hallway, the rest of their peers were heading for their next class but would it be so bad to skip one little class?

With everything that has happened lately; the nightmares, hallucinations and her guilty feelings from hurting him twice recently, the two hadn't had a lot of time alone.

"Where should we go?" Teagan questioned.

"Seriously?" Isaac asked surprised. He was hoping she would go along with the idea, he wanted nothing more than to spend some much needed time with her, but never thought she would go for it.

"Why not?" Teagan said with a shrug. "I think we could both benefit from it." She added, as she laid her hands on his chest, then ran her hands up to wrap her arms around his neck.

"I am feeling a little stressed." Isaac pointed out.

"You do look a little stressed." Teagan agreed, as she nodded her head.

"I'm a little frustrated too." Isaac added.

"Really?" Teagan asked with feigned shock.

"Mm-hm." Isaac said. He leaned forward to softly kiss her lips, then pulled back a little with his lips inches from hers as he whispered, "Sexually."

"Mm." Teagan moaned, as she licked her lips. She grinned at him, as she said, "I'm feeling a little bit of that too."

"You are?" Isaac questioned.

"Mm-hm." Teagan said with a nod.

Isaac smiled as he gave her a quick peck on the lips, then grabbed her hand as he said, "Come on, follow me."

Teagan chuckled, as he rushed down the hall pulling her along behind him. Isaac walked into the locker room, glancing around to make sure it was empty. When he didn't hear or see anything, he pulled her in with him and turned around to face her.

With a grin on their faces, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her toward him as he pressed his lips against hers for a heated kiss. As they continued to kiss, he began to walk them past a few row of lockers, before he stopped to lower his hands to grab her butt and lift her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist then hissed out in pain, when she felt him slam her back against a locker.

"Sorry." Isaac breathed out, apologizing for being so rough. He reached up to push a lock of hair behind her ear before caressing her cheek. When she gave him a smile and a shake of the head, as if to say, it was okay, he leaned forward to press his lips against hers again this time being a little more gentle.

He grabbed at the bottom of the shirt she was wearing, pulling the sheer material over her head, leaving her in a white tank top. He kissed across her jaw, then down the side of her neck, lightly sucking and biting her skin.

She let out a breathy moan, and dug her nails into his shoulders. She felt him slide his hands under her tank top, running his hands over her bare back. All he could think about was wanting her back flat against something and her legs around his waist, but knew the locker room floor was probably not the most sanitary place to do it.

Suddenly remembering the desk in coach's office he kept his arms around her, holding her up as he attacked her lips and began to walk over to the office door. He swung the door open, stepped inside then pulled away for a moment to look for the desk, but was in for a surprised when he saw the room was trashed.

"Whoa, what happened in here?" Isaac wondered out loud.

Teagan turned her head, seeing the condition of the room. She slid down, placing her feet on the floor then turned to look at the room better with a confused expression. She opened her mouth, like Isaac –she wondered what happened as well, until she briefly remembered Stiles talking about pranking Coach for his birthday.

She let out a small chuckle, then said, "Stiles. It was Stiles."

"Why am I not surprised." Isaac said, then added, "This has Stiles wrote all over it."

"So much for relieving stress, huh?" Teagan questioned, as she turned to look at Isaac.

"There are other offices and rooms in this school." Isaac pointed out. He grinned, then added, "If you still want to..."

"Come on." Teagan said with a laugh, as she grabbed his hand and pulled him from the room, neither one ever noticing another person in the room, the person the police were currently looking for.

After leaving coach's office, Teagan pulled Isaac down an abandoned hall, then pulled him into a girl's restroom. She knew no one hardly used this one, so the chance of being caught were slim.

She laid her sheer shirt he removed earlier on the counter, then hopped up to sit on top of it. She reached out to grab the front of his shirt, pulling him toward her, as the two began to kiss again.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling like she couldn't get close enough to him. She gripped the front of his t-shirt wishing it was off and not in her way. All she wanted was to have her hands on his bare chest. She didn't think that was asking too much.

Teagan pulled away for a moment to glance down, planning to grab the bottom of his shirt and lift it off, but froze when she saw a red spot on his clean, white, shirt. She lowered her eyebrows in confusion, not even noticing his lips were nipping at her skin as he kissed across her shoulder.

She lifted her hand laying it on his chest then gasped when she saw the spot getting bigger. "I-Isaac..." She breathed out, as she patted his chest, trying to get his attention.

"Yeah, babe?" He asked, as he pulled back to look at her. A worried look appeared on his face when he saw how scared she looked. He saw her staring at his shirt, then glanced down not seeing anything, before looking back at her. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him, as he asked, "What's wrong?"

"You-You're hurt. I hurt you." She whimpered, as she grabbed the bottom of his shirt lifting it up. "No." She cried out, when she saw the deep cut on his chest. She placed her hand over it, trying to stop the bleeding, as she said, "I did this. I did it, I-I got to stop it. I've got to fix it."

Isaac looked down in confusion not seeing anything, then grabbed her hands; removing them from his chest and held them in his own hands and said, "Hey… baby, look at me."

"No, no, I got to stop it." Teagan cried, as she tried to pull her hands away. She couldn't understand how he could be so calm when he was bleeding out.

"Teagan, look at me." Isaac said again, a little louder getting her attention. When he caught her eyes, he added, "There's nothing wrong. Everything is okay."

"No, no it's not, it's..." She began to say, as she looked back down and gasped when she saw he was right. There no blood, no cut, no stain, everything was like he said it was; okay.

"But, you- there was..." She stuttered out, trying to explain.

"Hey..." Isaac began to say, as he laid his hands on either side of her face forcing her to look at him. "I don't know what you think you saw, but it's not true, okay? I'm okay, you're okay, we're both okay."

"You-You're okay. I didn't hurt-hurt you." She mumbled, as she cautiously laid her hand on his chest.

Isaac opened his mouth to say something back wondering exactly what she saw, but before he could say a word, the door opened, as Lydia and Allison walked in, interrupting the couple.

"Hey, there you two are." Lydia said.

"We've been looking all over for you both. Neither of you were in class." Allison added.

"So what are you here to nark on us or something?" Isaac questioned, as he lowered his shirt back down. He stepped back from the counter, then helped Teagan to jump down.

"No." Allison said, as she rolled her eyes. "Stiles is looking for us all. He's freaking out about something." She added.

"That's Stiles. He's always freaking out." Isaac pointed out, as he folded his arms across his chest.

"What's wrong?" Teagan softly asked, as she hugged herself trying to shake the image from her mind. She felt Isaac slip an arm around her waist and pulled her against him, trying to offer her some comfort.

"I don't know. He wants us all to meet up then he'll tell us." Lydia stated.

"Let's go then." Teagan said, as she pulled away from Isaac, the thought of hurting him again running through her mind. She walked past Lydia and Allison, ignoring the small smiles on their faces at finding her and Isaac in a bathroom together, the two girls had an idea what the couple were doing.

The small group walked out of the bathroom, making their way down the hallway and came across Stiles and Avery. Once Stiles realized they were all present, minus Scott; who they still needed to found, he began to walk down the hall, gesturing for them all to follow him.

He quickly informed then what he learned from his father earlier about William Barrow.

"Barrow went after kids with glowing eyes? He said those exact words?" Isaac questioned him after he was done. He glanced over at Teagan when he felt her slip her hand into his, he could feel how nervous she was.

"Yeah. And no one knows how he woke up from anesthesia. Just that when they opened him up, they found a tumor full of live flies, which in any other circumstance would be all kinds of awesome." Stiles explained.

"Did you say flies?" Lydia asked, as she came to a stop, causing the others to stop and turn around to face her.

"Lydia?" Allison questioned.

"What is it?" Avery added.

"All day I have been hearing this sound. It's like this buzzing." Lydia answered.

"Like the sound of flies?" Teagan asked.

"Exactly like the sound of flies." Lydia said.

"He's here." Avery said, as she looked at her friends. She didn't know how she knew that, but she did. Between the weird feeling she had, and what Lydia was hearing, she would bet anything that he was there.

"What are we going to do?" Teagan questioned.

"Well first, we need to find Scott." Stiles said, wanting to find his best friend. "Then we need to figure what flies have to do with all of this." He added.

"I can check the bestiary." Allison offered. "There has to be something in it about flies coming out of bodies, but it's going to take me literally all night."

"I'll help you." Teagan said over at Allison, which she gladly accepted. Since Teagan knew archaic Latin, she knew it would be a good idea to have her there.

"I'll stay here, help Scott to sniff him out." Isaac said to the group as he gave Teagan's hand a squeeze, wishing he didn't have to let it go but knew for this, it was best for them to split up.

"A, are you coming?" Teagan asked, as she looked at her best friend, who had been silent for a while, looking around.

"I feel like I should stay." Avery quietly said, not making eye contact with anyone. There was something in this school, some clue just waiting for her to find.

"Are you sure?" Teagan asked, worried about leaving her best friend and boyfriend behind.

As Avery nodded her head to answer, Teagan shot her a concerned look as she said, "Promise me, you'll be careful." She turned to look at Isaac, reaching up to lay a hand on the side of his face, as she whispered, "I need you to be careful too." She lightly ran her thumb over his bottom lip, as she mouthed, "Come back to me."

"I will." He promised. As the others began to walk down the hall, he gave Teagan a quick kiss on the lips before whispering, "It's you and me."

"It's you and me." She whispered back, giving him another kiss before he turned and began to walk down the hall catching up with the others.

"It's going to okay." Allison said over to her friend, when she saw the worried look on her face.

Teagan looked over at her, giving her a short nod, hoping she was right. After all the hallucinations of seeing her loved ones hurt or dying, she hated the thought of leaving them behind but she couldn't help but think they would be okay as long as they were away from her. She was the problem; she was the one who was really dangerous.

**~()~**

Avery ducked into a classroom and waited out the loud ringing of the fire alarm that Stiles had pulled to try and get everyone out of the school.

All day she'd had this sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, like something bad was about to happen. Now she was wandering through the empty school in hopes that with her abilities she might be able to somehow locate Barrow. Lydia swore he was in the school, and after everything they'd been through Lydia had been right in one way or another.

As she walked into the chemistry room a chill ran up her spine, and she spun in a slow circle her eyes moving rapidly as she searched every corner of the room.

Her eyes stopped on the locked closet to the side of the room, and her heels clicked against the floor as she neared it.

But just as she started to reach out for the handle she heard a noise behind her.

Spinning around she saw an officer in the room with his gun pointed at her, it only took seconds for her to let out a sigh of relief.

"We have to stop meeting like this, deputy." She said smiling widely at him.

Lowering his gun Parrish asked, "What are you doing in here? Not only is the shrapnel bomber on the loose, but the fire alarm was pulled."

Slowly walking closer to him she purred, "What did I tell you about playing tough cop with me?"

His eyes locked with hers as his mouth went dry as he remembered their last conversation perfectly, despite his best efforts to hide that fact, she saw the smile toying at the corners of his mouth and she looked down as she smiled too.

"You really shouldn't be in here." He finally said, his professional expression returning.

With a jolt of attitude she responded, "And I'm really not fond of being told what to do."

He watched her closely as she took a few steps away from him and said, "I happen to be trying to save lives, and you're interfering."

"Is that so?" He asked with an amused expression.

Resting her hands on her hips she nodded, clearly not appreciating him not believing her.

Looking around the room he pushed, "What are you doing in here then?"

Normally she'd had a million snarky comebacks, or even a raunchy response that could make his cheeks darken but the longer her eyes met his, the more her excuses faded away and she admitted, "I think Barrow is in the school… I'm trying to prevent a possible disaster here."

He couldn't hide the shocked look on his face as he questioned. "You're walking around by yourself trying to find someone who's responsible for the death of dozens of people?"

Raising her eyebrows as she placed her hands on the desk between them and leaned down slightly, revealing the plunging neckline of her shirt and the black lace trim of her dark blue bra as she arched an eyebrow and said, "Don't underestimate me… I happen to have acquired a very elite set of skills and I'm more than capable of defending myself."

His gaze left her face and fell to her exposed cleavage momentarily before he regained his concentration and glanced to the side reminding himself that she was in the classroom at the school because she was a student there. But even knowing that, it was hard to stay focused around her, which was something he was also aware she knew and kept using to her advantage.

Clearing his throat and sliding his gun back into his holster he asked, "An elite set of skills?"

She glanced down to the floor for a second holding back a laugh as she then walked back around the desk closer to him speaking in a hushed tone so he'd have to lean in farther to hear her, "It just so happens Deputy Parrish, that I actually possess several very sought after abilities."

As she stepped directly in front of him he caught the sultry look in her eyes, and the faint scent of her cherry blossom perfume tickled his nose as she smiled up at him from under her mascara coated eyelashes.

It was in these moments around her, when he became completely absorbed in her presence; not only did the rest of the world melt away but all reason went out the window and he found himself returning her advances, his eyes traced her face briefly lingering on her lips before he responded, "And what abilities would those be, Miss Dukate?"

Reaching forward she straightened the sleeve of his uniform out before trailing a finger down his arm and saying, "I don't just show anyone…but if you play your cards right, I might consider –indulging you..."

Her eyes focused solely on him as she saw him swallow hard and run his tongue over his bottom lip as he tried to find his words, but the moment was quickly ruined when a voice called out, "Deputy?"

Avery quickly took a step back away from the young officer and held back a laugh as the sheriff looked at him expectantly.

"Uh, sir, I found… this student wandering around." He explained motioning to Avery who rolled her eyes at him and then flashed a smile to Stiles' dad and greeted, "Hey Sheriff."

"Avery, you're supposed to be outside with everyone else." He stated, giving the teenager a concerned expression as he remembered pulling her over for racing the prior night.

"I was just looking for Scott." She lied.

Nodding the sheriff said, "Well, he's outside… with Stiles."

She nodded and offered a friendly smile.

"Parrish, make sure she gets outside and then I need you at the train station; we got an eyewitness putting Barrow there less than ten minutes ago." He said as he turned and left.

"Come on." Deputy Parrish said nodding for Avery to follow him out of the room, no trace of his formerly flirty tone left.

Dropping her arms to her sides she sighed in irritation but didn't move.

He stopped when he realized she wasn't following him.

"Avery." He said his tone stern, but lacking the irritation present in her voice as she said, "I know you don't believe me, but I really am trying to help here."

Walking over to her, he gently got a grip on her arm as he said, "I don't have time to argue with you, I need to get to the train station."

Looking down to his skin on hers and trying to ignore the fluttery sensation in her stomach she narrowed her eyes and threatened, "Let go of me, or I'll scream."

Sighing he said, "Please don't."

"I'm just trying to help!" She yelled, frustrated at his not believing or understanding what she meant.

"And I'm only trying to do my job. So can you just cooperate, please?" He asked, in an almost defeated voice.

This time as he tried to pull her from the room she let him lead her out of the classroom and down the hallway towards the exit. As they walked outside he looked at her and started to ask her why she was so convinced that Barrow was in the school but before he got the chance another student yelled her name.

Looking over Avery saw both Scott and Stiles motioning for her to join them.

She started to walk away but he stopped her as he said, "I believe you… that you think you're trying to help."

Turning her head back his direction her forehead lined with emotion as she said, "It's okay… if I were you I probably really wouldn't believe me either…"

His eyebrows pushed together as he saw a glimpse of sadness in her eyes before she headed over to her friends and he left to head to head to the station.

"What was that about?" Scott asked looking to where the officer who'd escorted her out of the building watched them for a few seconds before leaving.

"Nothing." She sighed then said, "And nothing on Barrow either… not that I got very far into my search before I was interrupted. You guys have any better luck?"

"Nothing." Aiden said at the same time Scott said, "Not even a scent."

"Well, it's almost 3 O'clock so school's pretty much over. If there was a bomb wouldn't he have set it off by now?" Stiles pointed out as he looked around to where the school grounds were steadily clearing out.

"So that means everyone is safe, right?" Ethan asked.

Avery scoffed at how he almost appeared relieved, like he was even capable of feeling any sort of compassion.

"I'm not so sure…" Lydia breathed out, causing everyone to look at her as she shrugged, "I just… I don't know."

"What's our plan then?" Ethan questioned.

"Nothing, school's out." Aiden reminded his brother.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with him, but yeah… I'm going home, what else can we do?" Avery nodded.

Stiles looked around the group shocked, "Are you kidding me? There is a mass murderer on the loose!"

"I'm going to head to Allison's, see if Teagan needs help with anything." Isaac announced.

Lydia stared down to the ground a frustrated and almost hopeless expression on her face, she knew something was going to happen, but she couldn't give any details that would be at all helpful.

"Kira's dad invited me to dinner…" Scott admitted causing Avery to let out a small squeal as she clapped her hands in excitement for him.

"Scott, Barrow is out there… he's after teenagers with glowing eyes. Guess what? Your eyes happen to glow!" Stiles exclaimed as he readjusted his book bag.

"Shh… leave him alone." Avery said dismissing his point with a wave of her hand as she explained, "Maybe we all just need a night off… some time to ourselves, to just loosen up."

Lydia let out a heavy, exasperated sigh as she remembered back to when Avery used to talk like that, always trying to tell other people to loosen up and then having to call for rides home from wherever she'd end up drunk at.

"What did you say you were doing tonight?" Isaac asked, the last time she'd talked like that to him, they both ended up in a bar fight after Jackson and Teagan had showed up.

With a smirk she said, "I didn't. Because contrary to what you all believe… my every waking moment doesn't have to be spent helping you all.

Stiles opened his mouth to say something, but Isaac spoke before he could as he remembered what she'd told him, "Avery time?"

With a coy smile she nodded, "Exactly."

"Wait, what the hell is Avery time?" Lydia finally spoke up, causing both Isaac and Avery to start laughing at no one else having a clue what they were talking about.

"I'm lost." Stiles admitted tossing his hands up before he shook his head back and forth as he accused, "And disgusted in all of you…" As he turned to leave, Lydia followed him.

"Where are you going?" Aiden asked stepping forward.

Pausing Lydia admitted, "With Stiles… the only one who seems to believe me."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you guys so much for reading! We've been having so much fun brainstorming and writing for this story, we've really been putting so much work into it!**

**Please take a few moments to leave a review and let us know if you've read and liked the chapter. Feedback is always welcomed and we appreciate the support so much! ^_^**


	12. Eyes Playing Tricks

**Chapter 12 - Eyes Playing Tricks**

* * *

><p>Allison glanced up from the computer for a minute; seeing Teagan pacing across the floor reading a page from one of the many pieces of papers she was holding. It was a pack of papers she had printed out earlier from the computer.<p>

She figured it would be easier to print out a bunch of stuff for Teagan to read, while she read the rest on the computer. She hoped by dividing up the work, they would get through it faster and find something helpful, but so far that plan was a bust.

Every so often Teagan would pause; making Allison think she found something valuable, but then she would let out of annoyed breath and began to pace again. She was so annoyed and frustrated that she even started chewing on her thumb nail, a bad habit of hers.

Allison looked back down at the computer screen, her eyes scanning over the words then she sat up straight in her chair, thinking maybe she found something.

"Hey, T, what is the archaic Latin word for fly again?" Allison asked.

"Musca." Teagan answered, as she looked over at her friend. She rushed over to the desk, standing behind her, as she added, "Why did you find something?"

"Uh...yea- no wait. No sorry." Allison said, once she realized the word she came across wasn't the right one. She glanced over her shoulder to look at Teagan, as she added ,"I thought I found something, sorry."

"It's okay. But there has to be something in the bestiary, there just has to be, and we have to find it." Teagan said, as she nervously ran a hand through her hair.

Allison nodded her head in agreement but didn't point out how stressed her friend looked, she knew Teagan would just deny it. It's not like she could get her to take a break or anything, it would just be wasted words falling on deaf ears.

"We're going to stop him, Teagan." Allison said. "Scott, Isaac and the others will be okay." She added, voicing the real concern. After seeing Teagan checking her cell phone numerous of times in the last couple of hours, she knew how worried she was about her boyfriend and friends.

Teagan gave her a small smile, hoping her words were true but fearing the worst. Even if they did stop Barrow, who was going to stop her before she did something she regretted. She shook her head, pushing those thoughts aside, as she began to pace across the floor again, flipping to a new page and began to read it softly to herself.

When the words on the page began to blur, she closed her eyes for a minute to rub them, then opened them back up to read the page. She softly gasp when she saw the words,'tuer ou être tué', wrote over and over again.

Hearing her take a shaky breath, Allison looked up, seeing the pale look on Teagan's face, then asked, "Teagan, are you okay?"

"I uh, I'm-I'm..." Teagan began to say, as she looked over at Allison, seeing the concern look on her face. She took a deep breath, then looked back down at the paper; seeing that it was back to normal then added, "Yeah, I'm okay."

Allison continued to look at her, after hearing about some of the hallucinations she had recently and even seeing her having one, she was extremely worried about her. "What did you see?" She questioned, trying to get her to open up.

"I just... my eyes were blurred." Teagan lied. She flashed her a fake smile, hoping to ease her mind then added, "We've read through a lot of stuff. My eyes are just playing tricks."

"Teagan..." Allison began to say, until they heard a knock at the front door.

"I'll get it." Teagan offered, hoping to get out of the conversation Allison was about to start. They didn't have time to sit around whining about the crazy things she saw, they needed to stop Barrow before it was too late.

Teagan laid the pack of papers on the desk, then quickly left the room making her way to the front door. She glanced out the peep hole and let out a relieved sigh when she saw Isaac on the other side.

"Hey." Teagan said with a genuine smile, as she opened the door to let him in.

"Hey." Isaac said back, as he stepped into the apartment. As soon as she shut the door, she was in his arms, both were relieved the other was okay. Now that the two were together again, she felt a sense of calmness and he felt like he could breathe again.

"Please tell me you have good news." Teagan asked. She pulled back to look at him, as she added, "Please tell me you all found Barrow and this is all over."

Isaac shook his head with an apologetic look on his face, as he said, "I'm sorry. He wasn't at school."

"But Lydia said-"

"I know, but we can't find him, we looked all over. None of us caught a whiff of him anywhere in the building." Isaac explained.

Teagan let out a frustrated sigh. They had no idea what Barrow had planned, but the fact that he went after people with 'glowing eyes' didn't sit well with her. They had to find him before he hurt someone or worse.

"What do we do now?" She questioned, feeling at a loss.

"We... We just... I dunno." Isaac answered honestly, with shrug. "I guess we just- we just keep looking, keep trying, and don't just give up. We stop him." He added, feeling like that was the lamest answer ever, but he really didn't know what to do next, none of them really had a plan.

"What are the others doing?" Teagan asked, wondering if they were out researching and still looking.

"I'm not sure about Stiles and Lydia, but Scott had dinner plans at Kira's and Avery... well she's apparently having 'Avery time'." Isaac answered. He took a step closer to her, placing a hand on the side of her face and softly smiled when she leaned into him hand. "And I'm here with my girl." He added.

"And your girl thanks you." Teagan softly said with a smile. She stood on her tip toes to give him a sweet kiss, then laid her head in the crook of his neck, as she closed her eyes for a minute.

"How's my girl doing?" Isaac questioned, as he kissed the side of her head. "Hmm? Not stressing out too much, I hope." He added, as he ran his hand up and down her back to comfort her.

"Well, let's see, there is a psycho killer out there who wants to kill my friends and boyfriend..." She began to say, as she stepped out of his arms taking a few steps away from him. She ran her fingers across one of the side tables that was beside the couch, as she continued, "I'm going out of my freaking mind..." She reached under the table, grabbing the knife she knew the Argents kept under it for emergencies. She kept the knife out of sight, hiding it behind her back, as she turned back around to face him. She began to walk back toward him, as she quietly added, "And let's not forget the strong urge I feel to do something very bad to you."

"What? What do you mean?" Isaac asked confused, seeing the strange look on her face.

Without a word, she brought the knife from behind her back and stabbed him in the stomach, causing him to cry out in pain. She tilted her head to the side, a smirk on her face, as she whispered, "Does that answer your question, Isaac?"

"T-Teagan... what..." Isaac panted out, as he tried to breathe through the pain.

Feeling his skin healing around the knife, she twisted it, causing him to groan. He felt his knees go weak and grabbed on to her shoulder locking eyes with her, trying to read her but it was like staring at a stranger.

"Tuer ou être tué, Isaac." Teagan said, as if that explained everything. "I'm just doing what I have to." She added, before pushing the knife further into his stomach, feeling his blood cover her hand.

"Teagan?" Isaac said, as a trail of blood ran down the side of his mouth. "Teagan!"

Hearing him yell her name, she snapped her eyes open with a gasp, and took a quick step back. Her eyes looked down at his stomach, where she shoved a knife in him, but saw there was nothing there. He was completely fine. She gasped and began to pant, as she looked down at her hands the nightmare so real, she was sure his blood was be on them, but they were clean.

"Hey, hey... look at me." Isaac said, as he grabbed her chin, forcing her head up. "You just fell asleep for a minute. It's okay." He added, hoping to calm her down.

"But it felt- it was so real. I did- I did something bad." Teagan softly said, as she took a few deep breaths. With a shaky hand, she cautiously reached out laying on hand on the side of his stomach the place where she plunged a knife into his skin and gasp as she replayed the nightmare in her mind. To her it still felt so real, it felt like she really did stab him. She was having a hard time convincing herself that it didn't really happen.

"Teagan.. hey, don't look down, look at me." Isaac said, as he rested his hands on the side of her face. He lifted her head to look at him and wiped the tears away from under her eyes. "Whatever just happened, it's not true, you didn't do anything, okay? Nothing bad happened." He added.

"It might. It could happen." Teagan argued, as tears filled her eyes. She took a step away from him, trying to put some distance between them. She wrapped her arms around herself, as she added, "I wanted... I wanted to..."

"You wanted to what?" Isaac asked, when she paused.

Before Teagan could say anything else, Allison walked into the room, wondering what was taking Teagan so long to answer the door. "Is everything okay?" She asked the couple.

When neither one answered, Allison looked over at Teagan, feeling even more concerned for her than she was when she saw the look on her face. She looked even more tired and broken down then she did just a few minutes ago; if that was even possible.

"Teagan, maybe you should take a break." Allison suggested, going back on her earlier thought. She knew Teagan would still fight her on it but hoped with Isaac there he could help talk her into it. The girl looked like she was going to drop any moment.

As if on cue, Teagan opened her mouth to argue until Isaac spoke up, "She's right. At least lie down for a few minutes. You're not going to be able to research anything if you're too tired to read the words."

"I'll keep looking and you can take a short nap in my room." Allison added.

"What about the papers I was reading?" Teagan questioned.

"I'll read them." Isaac offered, as he walked over to her, "I'll stay right by your side and read them."

"You don't have stay with me." Teagan pointed out, as she lowered her head, hating when she was an inconvenience to her loved ones.

"Hey.." Isaac began to say, as he laid a hand on the side of her face. When she raised her head to look at him, he softly said, "I'm not leaving you."

Teagan continued to look at him, then glanced over at her brunette friend feeling too drained to argue with them anymore. She blew out a small breath then nodded her head –agreeing with their idea to rest

**~()~**

"You're interrupting Avery time." She joked as she answered her phone and tucked her new fake id into her wallet before throwing her purse in the passenger seat.

"This isn't funny, this is very… very serious." Stiles huffed out from the other end of the line.

She was silent as she waited for him to go on, "It's Kira, okay? Barrow is going after Kira."

She could hear Lydia saying something an then some muffled noise before Lydia demanded Stiles watch the road and stay in his lane before she put the phone to her ear and said, "Someone left a code for Barrow on the chemistry board, in atomic numbers… spelling out Kira."

Starting her car she said, "You're sure?"

"Yes! We found blood on the closet floor…"

Avery didn't hear the rest of her friends words as she realized she'd been in the chemistry room earlier, she was seconds away from trying to get into the closet when Parrish had intervened. Closing her eyes she thought about how if she'd just argued a little longer, stood her ground and followed her gut they would have already found him and her newest friend wouldn't be in danger.

"Can you send me the address to her house and meet us there?" Lydia asked, bringing the blonde back to her senses.

After doing just that, she sped off towards Kira's hoping she'd get there in time, but when she pulled up she saw Stiles and Lydia pulling Scott to his feet and no sign of Kira.

"Barrow, he took Kira!" Scott exclaimed wiping blood from his forehead.

"Yeah we know, he was after her the whole time." Stiles explained.

Avery looked away from her friends with a guilty expression, if she'd just stayed focused on what she'd been doing instead of paying attention to Deputy Parrish she would have found Barrow. Now Kira could be dead and it was all her fault.

Scott called Isaac to see what he'd been able to find out from the bestiary, but it wasn't anything helpful to them.

"I knew he was there… how did I know?" Lydia breathed out.

Avery knew she should speak up and ease her friend's nerves, admit that she was closer than any of them to finding Barrow, but she held her silence.

"You heard the flies…" Stiles reminded her.

Taking a step forward with a hopeful expression Scott asked, "What do you hear now?"

"Nothing, I feel like I can do this… but I don't know what to do." She admitted, looking to her friends for help.

Finally breaking her silence and walking up to them Avery looked at her friend and said, "I do."

"Then tell me, because this feeling… it's driving me crazy. It's right there on the tip of my tongue but I can't trigger it." She said frantically shaking her hands out to the side as she spoke.

"You're a banshee, Lydia… the wailing woman, remember? What do banshee's do?" Avery asked, then answered her own question to get the point across, "They scream."

Lydia's eyes widened as she stared at her, knowing she was right. She'd been thinking to herself that the feeling was irritating enough it made her want to scream.

Without any warning she opened her mouth and let out an extremely loud, high pitched scream, making Avery jump and Stiles clamp his hands over his ears.

Once the residential street fell silent again, Avery exchanged looks with Scott and Stiles as they waited for Lydia to inform them of whether it had worked or not. Her gaze slowly raised from the road to the streetlight above them as she realized it wasn't flies she'd been hearing buzzing all day; it was electricity. Which she proudly announced as she looked around her group of friends.

"Barrow was an electrical engineer, he worked at a power substation." Stiles realized out loud.

"You did it!" Avery exclaimed as she grabbed Lydia's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, while Stiles recalled the exact substation Barrow had worked for.

**~()~**

As Scott pulled his bike to a stop and shut it off, Avery jumped off the back of it and removed her helmet as she pointed out, "The police still aren't here."

Scott took his own helmet off and said, "We have to go in there…"

"I know." She nodded then looked over to see Stiles jumping out of his jeep with a bat in hand as he told Lydia to wait in the car for when the police got there because he only had one bat.

Scott raced into the building by himself as Avery waited for Stiles to catch up as they all hoped they were making it in time to save their new friend.

"Scott! No! Look out!" Kira yelled as she saw him, but before anyone could respond, Barrow knocked the teenager to the ground with the power from the large, exposed, live wire he was holding in his rubber gloved hand.

Scott collapsed to the cement floor, his body twitching and practically seizing from the amount of electrical currents that had just shocked his entire system.

Helplessly he was forced to watch as Barrow closed in on Kira, he tried to tell him that he didn't want her, but the murderers mind was made up. Just as he started to place the live wires against Kira, Avery raced into the room full speed ahead as she tried to knock him away from her friend, but she was a few seconds too late.

Just as she grabbed onto his shoulders to push him away, he'd dropped the wire on Kira but it was almost like her body seemed to deflect the current as it shot back and instantly killed him. From the impact of the blast, Avery was knocked several feet back where she landed with a thud as she looked up, realizing her friends only chance of survival might be if she absorbed enough of the electricity.

She didn't even know if it was possible to do, at least not without killing herself in the process but she had to try. Closing her eyes she placed her palms flat on the floor and took a deep breath as she let her body absorb the energy and electricity until she collapsed from it. Her eyes blinked open and she saw Kira was on her feet, hands out to the side as she pulled in all of the electricity which seemed to not affect her at all.

The power surge caused a city wide blackout as flashes of energy and light bounced around the room, until finally even the room they were in was dark.

"Guys!" Stiles yelled as he finally joined up with the rest of the group.

He saw Kira and Scott starring at each other in shock, and then he saw Avery on the floor breathing heavily as she was down on all fours.

"Hey, hey, hey." He breathed as he dropped down beside her, watching as she broke and chipped her manicured nails on the rough cement floor, seeming to be in a great deal of pain.

"Avery…"

With a growl that didn't sound human she looked up at him with black eyes; the power she'd absorbed had triggered a darkness inside of her, the same darkness Deucalion forced her to tap into in the fight against her mother.

"Holy…" He breathed out as he leaned away from her, startled by the sight and not sure what to do.

Avery desperately clawed at the floor as she let out a pained cry, trying to keep in control of her thoughts and actions, but the energy she'd absorbed felt like it was burning her up from head to toe. The worst part of it was the thoughts running through her head of how she wanted to cause pain, the constant nagging to draw in even more power, even if she had to kill someone to get it.

Stiles slowly raised a hand and placed it on her shoulder, trying to provide some source of comfort or talk her down from whatever she was going through, but he gasped in pain as she grabbed his arm and threw him backwards.

"Stay… stay away from me." She hissed as she jumped to her feet, she couldn't remember ever being in this much pain before, it was like the electricity she'd taken in was shocking her entire system again and again.

"Scott… I need some help over here." Stiles winced as he open and closed his hand, making a fist a few times to make sure she hadn't broken any bones.

Kira leaned back against the metal fencing she'd been chained too only moments before and slowly slid to the ground, she couldn't believe what just happened. Not only had someone tried to kill her, but she'd managed to survive and swallow up the power from the live wire. Pulling her knees up to her chest she closed her eyes and blocked out the sounds of talking, she had too much going on inside her head to even focus on anything external.

Avery somehow made it to her feet and backed away from her approaching friends, "Just stay back… please." She begged, she was afraid if they got too close she'd unintentionally hurt or kill them.

They were both talking to her but she couldn't understand what either of them were saying, all she could hear was Deucalion's voice in her head, telling her that everyone else was replaceable; but not her she was one of a kind. At that thought she smiled to herself, in her altered state of mind she believed him a hundred percent.

Finally her gaze fixed back on Scott as he stepped closer.

Backing up farther Avery warned, "Stay back, Scott… I don't want to hurt you."

He swallowed hard as he stared at her black eyes, "You wouldn't hurt me."

Tilting her head back she let out an eerie laugh that brought him to a stop as she cocked her head to the side and said, "Yes, I would! You think you're special because you're a true alpha… but we both know it's wasted on you. You're so pathetic, Scott. And you're going to fail…"

"This isn't you." He argued, bravely taking another step forward.

"Yes, it is." She argued letting out a pained groan as sweat beaded across her forehead and she forced out another laugh, "I know what and who I am… I could take you down, easily. In all honesty I'd be doing your pack a favor."

Grabbing onto his best friends arm Stiles said, "We have to do something… they can't see her eyes."

Diverting her attention to him Avery said, "And you… you're useless, Stiles. It's actually sad, you try… you really do, but you're just human; a sidekick at best, and that's all you'll ever be."

Scott's hearing focused and he could hear approaching footsteps and more sirens in the distance, the police had finally gotten there at the worst possible time.

A few officers filed into the room, all of them barely glancing at the teens before going to check on Barrow's body.

Rushing forward and catching Avery off guard, Scott managed to corner her, as he grabbed onto her arm he gasped, feeling all of the pain she was in.

"Let go of me!" She hissed trying to push him back, but his eyes glowed red as he stared back at her, and firmly held onto both of her arms, his teeth gritted in pain as he took in the pain she was feeling; desperately trying to get her to calm down, to get her back to herself, even if it caused him pain in the process.

"What's going on here?" Parrish asked as he entered the room and started towards where he saw Avery struggling against Scott's grip on her.

Stiles quickly got in between the officer and his friends as he started to stutter out an excuse, but he wasn't listening to the teen as he saw Avery finally pull away from Scott and turn, putting her back to them.

Scott leaned back against the wall, both hands trembling and breathing hard from taking her pain away.

The deputy glanced at Scott confused, before he placed a hand on Avery's shoulder and turned her around to face him as he asked, "Are you okay?"

Stiles breathed out a sigh of relief and rubbed his hands over his head as he saw her eyes were back to normal, even if she did have a dazed and confused look on her face.

**~()~**

Several minutes later, Teagan and Isaac were laying on Allison's bed. Isaac was leaned back against the headboard, reading through papers while Teagan laid on his chest, her leg thrown over his, as she cuddled into his side.

Any time he heard her breathing pick up or her heart race, he would run his fingers through her hair, run a hand up her back or touch her in some way to let her know he was there, hoping it would calm her down and keep the nightmares away.

She had not been sleeping for long, ten minutes at the most when he felt her shifting around, causing him to glance down at her and saw her staring back at him. He gave her a smile, as he brushed a lock of hair from her face and said, "You're suppose to be sleeping."

"I can't." Teagan breathed out.

"You can't or won't?" Isaac questioned. "You're scared to sleep, aren't you?" He guessed.

She didn't have to answer for him to know it was true. He softly sighed, hating to see her go through this. When she lowered her head, he laid his hand on the side of her face and leaned down to kiss the side of her head, before asking, "How often are the nightmares now?"

"Just about every time I close my eyes." Teagan softly said.

"Are you back in the cellar?" Isaac asked, remembering that is how the nightmares started. She would dream about all of them being back in the root cellar and dying. When she shook her head he continued to question ,"Are they all about your mom now?"

Teagan nodded her head, but didn't go into any details about the horrifying things her mother would show her or make her do. She didn't want to worry him worse than he was or scare him as she listed off the different ways she had hurt him in her dreams.

Isaac lifted her head, forcing her to look at him as he asked the question she never wanted him to, "What do you see?"

"It doesn't matter." Teagan said with a sad smile. "On the list of things we have to worry about, my dreams don't make the top." She added.

"Not on my list." Isaac said, as he shook his head. He lightly caressed her cheek, as he added, "On my list, you're always at the top. You are my main concern, always."

"I shouldn't be." Teagan mumbled, as she tried to look away, but he wouldn't let her.

"Hey..." He began to say, as he caught her eye. "Whatever is going on, we're going to solve it together, you don't have to keep pushing me away."

"I'm trying to protect you." Teagan pointed out, as she sat up. "It's not safe for you. I'm not safe for you." She added.

"I can handle whatever you throw my way." He argued.

"Isaac... I'm serious, I-"

"I'm serious too." He said, interrupting her. He sat up beside her grabbing her hands, as he continued, "I don't care how bad it gets, I can handle it cause I know together we are stronger than anything that tries to tear us apart."

When tears filled her eyes and she began to shake her head to disagree, he reached up to lay a hand on the side of her face stopping her and forcing her to look at him, as he continued, "Shh, hey, look at me, I get it, okay? I do. You don't want to lose me so you push me away –I've been there, remember?" He paused for a moment, both remembering the time he broke up with her when he was worried his world would hurt her. "I made the biggest mistake of my life walking away from you then, but I will never make that mistake again. It may be selfish of me hanging on to you and denying you a normal life, but I love you too damn much to let you go, Teagan."

He leaned forward giving her a soft kiss, then placed his lips against her forehead. He took a shaky breath, before softly saying, "But I'll never force you to be with me." He pulled back to look at her, as he continued, "I promised you that I would never walk away from you, that I'll never let you go but if you need to walk away, I'll be right here waiting for you."

"No." Teagan whimpered, as she shook her head. She scooted closer to him wrapping her legs around him and placing her hands on the side of his face. "I don't-I don't want to walk away. I'm just scared, Isaac, I'm so scared."

Thinking she meant for herself, he laid a hand on the side of her neck, as he said, "You don't have to be, okay? Whatever you are seeing, it's not going to hurt you, I won't let it. I promise it won't."

He pulled her toward him, as he captured her lips for a desperate kiss. For a moment, he actually was worried she might walk away in order to protect him from whatever she was seeing in her mind. If she ever did, he would respect her wishes but he would never fully let her go. He would still keep his promises, he would still be there for her; helping her, being her friend, whatever she needed. When he said he would never leave her, he meant it.

As if knowing how badly he needed to hear it, she whispered against his lips, "I love you, Isaac." She pulled back to look at him, laying her hands on his face, as she stared at him and said, "I love you so much and I'm not walking away." Tears filled her eyes, as all the different hallucinations of hurting him crossed her mind as she shook her head fighting against them, "All I know is I can't lose you."

"You're not. I'm not going anywhere, Teagan." Isaac said back.

Teagan smiled at his words leaning forward to press her lips against his for a heated kiss. He ran his hands down her back resting them on her butt, as he pulled her closed to him having her fully on his lap now.

She pulled back for a moment to reach down, grabbed the bottom of his shirt, then pulled it over his head, laying it beside them on the bed. She placed her hands flat on his chest, then ran her hands down to his stomach. Her right hand paused where she dreamed she stabbed him, as she glanced down to look. She lightly ran her fingers across his skin, remembering what it felt like when she stuck the blade in him.

Hearing her heart began to race he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him as he said, "Stay with me, Teagan. Stay in this moment with me, okay? This is real, you and me. This is what is real, this is what matters."

Teagan nodded her head at his words, then lifted her arms, waiting for him to remove her shirt. He smiled at the gesture then leaned forward to softly kiss her lips, before pulling back to grab her shirt to take it off.

He pressed his lips against her bare shoulder, leaving light kisses where ever his lips touched, as he ran his hands down her sides trying to touch as much as he could at once. She was honestly intoxicating to him, he could never get enough of her.

Before things could go too much further between them they heard the bedroom door open, followed by Allison yelling out, 'Oh, my God."

"Allison!" Teagan gasped, as she shifted around on Isaac's lap trying to climb off of him, which only turned him on more and made him let out a quiet moan.

"Ew, okay, wow." Allison said, as she placed the sheets of paper in her hands over her face. "I'm sorry, I thought you were sleeping and I was bringing Isaac more papers to read. I didn't know you two would be going at it on my bed." She added, as she made a face.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Allison." Teagan said, as she jumped off the bed. She glanced around, trying to see where Isaac had dropped her shirt earlier.

"I'm not." Isaac added, as he grabbed his shirt and slipped it on. "Besides it's not like we were having sex. Believe me I was trying, but you interrupted before we could." He added.

"Not helping, Isaac." Teagan hissed over at him. She spun around a few times, still looking for her shirt, as she added, "Now if you really wanted to help, you could find my shirt."

Isaac watched her drop down to the floor, looking under the bed for her shirt. He chuckled as he reached behind him, grabbing her shirt then held it out, waiting for her to look up and see it.

"I'm just going to keep standing here like this..." Allison began to say, as she kept the papers in front of her face to block the view. "Just let me know when it is safe to look again." She added with a laugh.

"Seriously, where the hell is my shirt?" Teagan mumbled out, as she crawled around the bed looking for it, which only made Isaac laugh more. "Laughing is not helping, Isaac. Finding my shirt though would really be helpful."

"Teagan..." Isaac began to say, trying to get her attention. She popped up from beside the bed seeing that he was holding out her shirt. She breathed a sigh of relief, then stood up.

She reached out to grab it but before she could, they heard Chris calling out for Allison before he stepped into the room. Teagan gasped, as she folded her arms across her chest, but nothing could really hide the fact that she was standing in front of her friend's father in a white lacy bra.

"Oh, God." Teagan breathed out, feeling her face heat up just when she thought it couldn't get worse, it did.

Chris glanced around the room seeing Isaac with a cocky grin on his daughter's bed, an embarrassed shirt-less Teagan, then looked over at his daughter, Allison, for an explanation. When she didn't say anything, he nodded down the hall, as he said, "Allison, my office, now."

Allison nodded her head letting him know she will be there in a minute. After he walked off, she looked over at her friends, as she said, "I'll be back. I need to go explain to dad that we're not involved in some kind of weird, kinky threesome, before he grabs his guns."

As Allison turned to leave the room, Teagan dropped her head in her hands, with a groan. She didn't think she had ever been this embarrassed before she didn't think anything could top this and it didn't help matters when she heard Isaac laughing about it.

She snapped her head up, seeing that he was standing in front of her holding her shirt out. "It's not funny." She hissed.

"You're right, it's not funny." He said. When she reached out to grab her shirt, he pulled it back, then added, "But it is hilarious."

She groaned out angrily, then opened her mouth to fuss at him but before she could say a word, he pressed his lips against her to stop her. She mumbled out a few words causing him to smirk, as he realized most were cuss words aimed at him.

"Shh, don't talk." Isaac mumbled before he began to kiss her again. As she kept throwing out cuss words, he bit her bottom lip as he shook his head, and said, "Uh-uh, no more talking. Just, shh."

"You're... an... ass... but –I... love you." She said in between kisses, causing him to chuckle.

"I love you too." Isaac said, as he pulled back to smile at her. He handed her the shirt as he added, "Here put this one. Don't want anyone to catch you without a shirt on."

"Jerk." Teagan joked, as she playfully punched his shoulder, causing him to laugh out loud.

As she slipped her shirt on, his cell phone rang. She heard him talking to someone, then hung up the phone after telling whoever that they haven't found anything.

"Who was that?" Teagan asked.

"Scott." Isaac said, then added, "Barrow took Kira."

"What?" Teagan breathed out. She ran a hand through her hair in frustration, while she was worried about her own stuff, someone completely innocent was taken and they had no ideas why he would take her, how to stop him or how to save her.

"There has to be something here. There has to be!" Teagan said, as she grabbed for the pack of papers from the bed, quickly scanning through them, trying to find something, anything that would help save Kira.

"Calm down, babe… we'll find something." Isaac said, not wanting her to stress herself over it.

She barely heard what he said as she quietly read to herself, going through page after page. She wasn't sure how long she had been reading or how many pages she went through until the words started to blur again.

"No. No, no, no." She whispered to herself, as the words began to move around on the page. She knew what phase was going to pop up, it was the one she saw earlier, 'tuer ou être tué', the phase that's been haunting her for days now.

"Damn it!" She called out, as she dropped the sheets of paper, watching them fall to the floor.

"Teagan?" Isaac said, as he looked over at her. When she dropped to the floor grabbing onto her head, he rushed over to her, pulling her against him as he asked if she was okay.

"It's doesn't stop. It never stops." Teagan cried, as she pulled at her hair.

"What doesn't stop?" Isaac questioned. "Teagan, talk to me." He pleaded.

Before Teagan could say a word, they noticed the lights flicker before the power shut off. The two looked around the dark room in confusion, as they both wondered what the hell was going on. Things took a turn for the worst when they noticed five dark figures appearing out of the shadows.

"Isaac..." Teagan whimpered out, as she grabbed on to his shirt.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm right here." Isaac said, as he kept his arms around her as the two slowly stood up and watched the figures getting closer to them.

Isaac pushed her behind him and took a few steps back, trying to get away from them. Teagan grabbed the back of his shirt, taking a few steps toward Allison's desk pulling him with her. She knew Allison kept a dagger or two in the top drawer.

Teagan kept her eyes on the dark shadow figures, as she slowly opened the drawer and reached inside, feeling around for the dagger. When she found the handle, she gripped it in her hand pulling it out right as one of the figures reached out for Isaac.

"Isaac! Watch out!" She yelled, as she pushed him aside, and stepped in front of him. She raised her arm, preparing to stab the dark figure in front of her but before she could it disappeared in front of her eyes.

"Teagan, stay back!" Isaac said, as he watched her head for the middle of the room trying to punch another shadow figure.

He reached out to grab her, planning to pull her back toward him, but before he could he saw one of the figures appear behind her and shove her aside. He yelled out when he saw her head hit the wall before she fell to the floor, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.

"Teagan!" Isaac yelled, worried about how still she was laying and the fact that she wasn't waking up. He tried to listen for her heartbeat, but all he could hear was his own pounding in his ears.

He tried to run to her, but was stopped as the five figures crowded around him. He could faintly hear Allison and her father pounding on the door as the figures got closer to him.

All he could think about was he hoped they could save Teagan in time before one of the figured laid a hand behind his ear, forcing him to stare into his greenish-yellow eyes before he blacked out.

* * *

><p>~ <em>A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn<em>.~

* * *

><p><strong>AN – Thanks for reading the chapter. ^_^ I hope you all liked it!**

**Don't forget to follow Miss E Charlotte and I on Tumblr, the links are up on our profiles here.**

**We would both really appreciate it if you'd take the time to leave a review and let us know if you're still reading, even if it's just a few lines –it means more than you know.**


	13. Birthday Breakfast Bunch

**Chapter 13 - Birthday Breakfast Bunch**

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><p>Teagan wasn't sure how long she was knocked out for but when she began to come to, the first thing she noticed was the splitting headache she had. She groaned, reaching up to rub the side of her head.<p>

She slowly opened her eyes to a dark room and saw someone standing over her causing her to jerk back with a small scream, until she heard the person began to speak.

"Teagan, hey, it's okay. It's me, Allison."

Teagan glanced around the dark room, trying to remember what happened last. She could hear Allison talking to her, trying to ask her questions, but she ignored her as the dark figures crossed her mind. She began to look around for them, scared they were still there in the room with them.

"Dad, she's awake." Allison called over her shoulder to her father before looking back at Teagan, as she tried to get through to her again, "Teagan…look at me, I need you focus on me for a second. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I-I think... my head hurts." Teagan said, finally answering her as she reached up to touch the side of her head again feeling the small knot. She remembered one of the shadow figures pushing her aside before they went after Isaac.

When that thought hit her mind, she quickly sat up with a gasp –ignoring the dizzy feeling as she called out, "Isaac. Where's Isaac? Did they-did they take him?"

Allison shook her head then glanced over her shoulder at her father; who was yelling out at Isaac, trying to get him to look and listen to him.

Seeing her boyfriend shaking on the floor, Teagan tried to stand up, stumbling a little until Allison grabbed her arm to keep her from falling back to the floor. Her friend kept a firm hand on her, as she helped her across the room to where Isaac was.

Teagan fell to the floor beside him laying her hands on him, hoping to give him comfort. She gasped at how cold he felt –he felt like a block of ice; which was strange considering the rest of the room comfortably warm.

She glanced over beside her to where Allison was now standing behind her father, then said over to them both, "He's-he's cold. He's freezing, we have to do something."

"Isaac, listen to me. You have to turn." Chris yelled at him.

"What?" Teagan asked in surprise, as she looked over at the elder Argent.

"It's the quickest way for him to heal." Chris explained, before he looked back at the young beta. "Isaac, you need to trigger it. Come on." He yelled, as he raised his fist and punched him.

Teagan jumped and slapped her hands over her mouth to hold back a gasp, as Chris hit him a few more times all while yelling for him to turn. She felt tears fill her eyes with each hit. She knew Chris was just trying to help, but couldn't help but think back to his abused past and feel her heart break for him.

She held her breath, then released it when Isaac finally turned his head toward them his eye glowing yellow, as he growled at them and pushed away from them.

"Shh, hey, baby, it's okay. It's okay." Teagan said, as she scooted closer to him. She laid a hand on his shoulder but her eyes widened in surprise, when he snapped his head aside to growl at her. She knew he wouldn't really hurt her, he was just confused and unsure of what was going on at the moment but she wasn't going to give up on trying to reach out to him.

She laid her hands on either side of his face, as she continued, "Hey, it's me, you're okay." She could instantly see him begin to relax, his eyes going back to the normal blue color as he looked over her, making sure she was okay too.

"You're okay." Isaac whispered with a relieved sigh. With tears in his eyes, he laid a hand on the side of her neck pulling her toward him to hold on to her. The last thing he saw was her lying on the floor passed out. As much as he was worried about what they were going to do to him, he was even more worried about what they were going to do to her.

With Teagan safely in his arms, Isaac glanced up seeing Allison and Chris watching them, both wondering what happened earlier. All they heard on the other side of the door was a lot of yelling and the sound of a fight breaking out.

"Did you see them?" Isaac choked out, as he looked at the two Argents.

"Who?" Allison asked. By the time she and her father made it inside the room it was empty and the couple were both laid passed out on the floor.

"There were five of them. They wore black. I couldn't... I couldn't see their faces. They were covered." Isaac said, as he tightened his hold on Teagan, remembering the fear he felt when he saw one appear behind her before pushing her aside.

"What do you mean? Like masks?" Allison questioned.

Isaac took a shaky breath, remembering when they all crowded around him. "One of them... I could see his eyes." He began to say, remembering when one stepped up to him. "They were greenish-yellow. Like a... Like a firefly." He added.

Chris glanced down at the floor for a moment in thought, then stood up making his way over to the windows, as he said, "Security system wasn't triggered."

"Then how did they get in?" Allison questioned.

"They didn't." Teagan spoke up. She sniffed, as she raised her head from Isaac's chest and added, "It was like they came out of the shadows."

"Do you know what that means?" Allison asked, as she turned her head to look at her father. Seeing the look on his face as she called out, "Dad?"

"Um... I'm not sure. Listen, the three of you... I need you to keep this quiet for a few hours." Chris said, he had a good idea of what it was that attacked them, but he needed more time to make sure his assumption was right.

"You want us to lie? To everyone?" Isaac questioned. Teagan shook her head, as she added, "I don't know if I can do that."

"I just need 24 hours." Chris stated.

"They could have killed them, Dad." Allison said, as she reached out to grab Teagan's hand, giving it a squeeze. She was relieved that her friend and Isaac were okay but knew how badly the situation could have gone.

"But they didn't…and I think there's a reason why. I think they might have been after me." Chris said to the teenagers ,who looked at him in shock before he walked out of the room, leaving them all even more confused than they already were.

**~()~**

Avery sat down on the couch beside her friends in the sheriff's office, as Stiles' dad sat in his chair and Agent McCall leaned against the front of the desk to question the teens.

"When did you get there?"

"At the same time." Stiles and Avery both said then glanced at each other, before looking back to the FBI agent.

"The same time as who?" He questioned them.

"The same time as me." Scott spoke up.

"By coincidence?"

"What do you mean coincidence?" Stiles asked leaned back against the leather couch and crossing his arms over his chest.

"That's what I'm asking you! You said you arrived at the same time, was that coincidence?" Agent McCall pushed.

"Are you asking me?" Scott asked his dad.

"I think he's asking me." Stiles cut in.

"I think he's asking all of us." Lydia breathed from the chair she was in next to the full couch, as Kira looked down to the floor.

"Okay." Agent McCall sighed, "Let me answer the questions."

Avery snickered under her breath as she smugly responded, "By all means, agent."

He sighed in irritation; the group of teens had managed to get him confused.

"Let me ask the questions." Raf asserted.

Stiles held back a laugh as he pointed a finger and winked at his best friend's dad.

"I don't think I should be answering any questions without my lawyer present." Avery said, holding her hand up in the air.

"A lawyer… you're a sixteen year old girl, you don't have a lawyer." He argued.

Avery cocked her head with attitude as she said, "I'm Avery Dukate, of course I have a lawyer."

The sheriff looked down and stifled a laugh at her giving McCall a hard time.

Sighing he said, "There's no need to get a lawyer involved, I'm just trying to get a straight story here."

"Well it feels like an interrogation to me." Avery snapped.

Nodding in agreement Lydia folded her hands in her lap as she said, "I do think the conversation has gone the interrogation route."

Sighing Agent McCall said, "I just want to make sure I have this absolutely clear." Flipping through his notepad he said, "Barrow was hiding in the chemistry closet at the school. Someone left him a coded message on the blackboard, telling him to kill Kira. Then Barrow took Kira to a power substation and tied her up with the intent of electrocuting her… which then blacked out the entire town?"

"Sounds about right…" Stiles breathed, and all of his friends nodded in response.

"How did you know he'd take her to a power station?"

Avery looked over to Stiles who scratched the side of his head and answered, "Well, cause he was an electrical engineer. Where else would he take her?"

"That's one hell of a deduction there, Stiles." Scott's dad said, his tone taunting.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? I take after my pops… he's in law enforcement." He said with a proud smile as he pointed and winked at his dad.

The sheriff let out a laugh, before McCall shot him a look.

Trying to cover up his laughing with a cough, Sheriff Stilinski said, "I think these kids found themselves in the right place at the right time. And Kira is very lucky for it."

"Kira, is that how you remember it?" He questioned turning his attention to the new student of the group.

She looked side to side as everyone stared at her with looks saying she'd better back their stories.

She agreed and then asked about getting her phone back, but was told it was now considered evidence.

As they were heading out of the office into the dark station Avery pointed out that she needed someone to take her back to her car so she could go home.

**~()~**

After leaving the Argent's, Teagan drove herself and Isaac to her house with the heater turned on full blast, hoping to help warm Isaac up. He was doing better, but mentioned the tips of his toes and fingers were still frozen.

She parked the car in the empty driveway but didn't turn it off, leaving the heat running, as she turned in her seat to face Isaac. She reached out, grabbed his hands and covered them with her own as she ran her hands over his, trying to warm then up then brought them up to her lips to blow on them.

"Better?" Teagan questioned, as she raised her eyes to look at him keeping his hands near her lips.

Isaac didn't say anything, as he pulled his hands away from hers to grab her arm. He kept his eyes locked with her, as he pulled her toward him –wanting her to straddle him in the passenger seat.

Once she was on his lap, he laid a hand on the side of her face cupping her cheek, before he leaned forward to press his lips against her for a gentle kiss. Teagan grinned against his mouth, then began to kiss across his jaw making her way toward his ear; the ear that the oni didn't touch. She shifted around on his lap, causing him to groan out and then chuckled in his ear, as she whispered, "Is that better?"

She nibbled on his ear, as she ran her fingernails across his scalp knowing both of those things turned him on. "Feels like you're feeling better." She whispered in his ear, when she felt what her actions were doing to him.

Isaac laid a hand on the side of her face, pulling her back toward him as he captured her lips for a heated kiss. He pulled back to look at her, as he said, "You always make everything better."

Teagan smiled at his words, as she said, "I think I know a way to make you feel even better. It'll warm you up too."

"Will there be no clothes?" Isaac questioned, as he shot her a grin hoping she was thinking the same thing he was.

"Nope, no clothes at all." Teagan answered.

"I like this idea already." Isaac said, as he leaned forward to kiss her, then groaned when she pulled back to tease him. "Come here." He whispered, before he placed his hand on the back of her neck, bringing her toward him as he pressed his lips against hers.

The two quickly got lost in each other and for a moment forgot all about what happened earlier. In moments like this, it was easy for all the bad to melt away and be replaced by the love the two shared for each other.

In these moments, it was like nothing could touch them –in these moments they just felt loved and safe. Unfortunately, those moments never lasted.

Teagan felt him slip his hands under her shirt laying his cold finger tips against her back, causing her to hiss, as she pulled away and said, "Ooh, cold hands. Very cold hands."

"Sorry." Isaac breathed out, as he removed his hands, the action bringing them both back to the present.

"It's okay." Teagan whispered, as she shook her head. She took his hands in hers again leaving light kisses across the back of his hand as she glanced up to look at him, "How are you feeling? Seriously?"

"I feel okay." Isaac said.

"But?" Teagan questioned. Knowing him well enough to know there was more he wanted to say.

"But I'm worried." Isaac continued.

"About?" Teagan asked.

"You. Mostly." He answered, causing her to softly sigh. "And I'm worried about whatever those things were back there and what they wanted. I was really worried when I saw you go up against them. That was incredibly dangerous, Teagan."

"I know." Teagan said, with a nod. "But I just... I saw them going after you and I-I had to react. I couldn't just stand there and let them hurt you." She added.

"Yes… you can. I can heal, you can't." Isaac pointed out. When she opened her mouth to argue, he shook his head then continued, "Hey, no, I get it, okay? I do. I know you're a badass, I know you can handle yourself... believe me, I know that. Those thoughts keep me awake and turned on most nights..." He smiled when she chuckled at his comment.

He laid his hand on the side of her face, the smile gone from his own face, as he continued seriously, "But when it comes to things we don't know about. When dark creatures come out of the shadows and surround us, I need you to stay back, okay? Just until we know what we are dealing with."

"Okay." Teagan whispered. "But I won't apologize for fighting for you or trying to keep you safe. That's the main reason I started training, to keep you and our friends safe."

"I'm not asking you to apologize or asking you to stop. I'm just asking the girl that I love to be careful." Isaac said, as he smiled at her. "Cause I plan to spend the rest of my life loving her and protecting her. I can't lose her."

"You won't." Teagan promised, as she leaned forward to softly kiss his lips.

Isaac kissed her a few more times then pulled back a little, as he asked, "Now what was this idea you had about making me feel better? I remember hearing no clothes were involved."

"You'll have to come inside to see." Teagan said, as she nodded her head toward the empty house, thankful that her dad was still at work; giving them some time alone.

"Or we can stay here." Isaac suggested, then added, "I don't mind taking my clothes off right here."

"I know you don't." Teagan said with a laugh. "But what I have planned for you is inside." She added. When he shot her a confused look, she chuckled as she said, "Oh, wait… you thought we were having sex."

"Well, yeah, that's about the only activity I like doing with you naked." Isaac pointed out. "What else is there to do?" He questioned.

"You remember the big bathtub in my bathroom?" Teagan asked back. "The one with all the jets that you stare longingly at every time you see it?"

Isaac scoffed, as he shook his head, then said, "That's crazy. I don't stare longingly at-" As she shot him a look, he sighed,"Okay, fine. I do stare longingly at your tub, but it's so cool and big. You could probably put the whole lacrosse team in it."

"It's not that big." Teagan said with a laugh. "But it is pretty cool. And relaxing and I figured since dad is still at work, I could fill it with warm water, throw some bubble bath in there, light some scented candles... and did you know there were lights in it too?"

"Ooh that's cool." Isaac said, loving the idea. "You know what would make it even better?" He added.

"What?" Teagan asked.

"You." Isaac said, smiling. "Correction, a naked you. Will there be a naked you in it?" He questioned.

Teagan threw her head back and laughed at his question. "Yes, there will be a naked me and a naked you in it. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like my heaven." Isaac answered, smiling. "And it's exactly where I want to be."

**~()~**

"You're oddly quiet." Deputy Parrish pointed out as he looked over Avery in the passenger seat of his patrol car.

"Turn right." She said, her voice barely over a whisper as she gave him directions towards Kira's house where she'd left her car when she'd left with Scott.

Following the directions she gave he kept glancing over at her, she looked almost like she was on the verge of tears. To him, it appeared she was just shaken up from the events of the night but in reality, she felt terrible for the things she'd said to Scott and Stiles.

Spending her nights drinking seemed to give her strength to get through the next day, finding her next high –her next escape had fooled her into thinking she could control her powers, keep the darkness inside of her at bay. But now she felt like she was drowning in it.

"You want to talk about what happened back at the substation?" He finally asked, not able to take the silence anymore.

"Left at the next stop sign." She simply responded, keeping her arms wrapped around herself and refusing to even look over at him.

"I guess not." He breathed, looking over at her again before focusing on the road.

Pulling to a stop outside of the house he looked over to her car as she slowly unfastened her seatbelt and reached for the door to get out of the car.

Turning in his seat some to face her he admitted, "The way you're acting is worrying me."

Scoffing she shook her head, her blonde locks flying wildly around her somber face as she said, "Worried about me? No, you should be scared for the people around me."

He opened his mouth to ask her a question but stopped when the streetlight above them turned on, flickered rapidly and then blew… raining it's shattered glass cover over the top of the patrol car.

He looked over just as she stepped out and slammed the door behind her, she needed away from Parrish, away from her friends, away from any living thing she could do harm to because she'd never felt more unstable in her entire life.

**~(The next day)~**

Teagan lazily opened her eyes the sun light shining in them. She turned her head to the side, and smiled when she saw Isaac lying beside her. She wrapped the sheet around her bare chest as she scooted closer to him.

"Wake up, wake up, boyfriend." Teagan cooed, as she left light kisses all over his face.

Isaac made a face, then groaned out, as he said, "Mm, do I have to?"

"Mm-hm. You have to." She said back, as she gave him a few more kisses. "Well, I mean, if you want to spend time with me… the only way to do that is to wake up." She added with a chuckle.

"Spend time with the girl I love?" Isaac questioned. He opened his eyes, smiling at her as he said, "Nothing is better than that."

"And nothing is better than laying in bed with the boy I love." Teagan agreed with him. She pretended to think it over, then said, "Well, except for maybe some french toast."

"What is it with you and french toast?" Isaac questioned with a laugh.

"What? I love french toast." Teagan answered with a shrug. "And waffles...ooh and pancakes. I love pancakes."

"You love every breakfast food." Isaac said, as he wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her toward him and causing her to squeal out in surprise. He gave her a sweet kiss and then pulled back to hover over her, as he asked ,"Question is, what do you love more.. french toast, waffles, pancakes, or..."

"Or what?" Teagan questioned, when he paused.

"Or me." Isaac said smiling, before he leaned down to kiss her again.

"Hmm..." Teagan began to say, as she pressed her lips against his, pulling back for a moment as she said, "It's hard to say. I mean… I do love you, but those others, well... they are usually drowning in syrupy goodness, but you are not. So you see my dilemma, right?"

"Mm-hm. I see, I see. That would be a hard choice to make." Isaac said, as he nodded his head. "What if I poured syrup on me? Would that make the choice easier?" He asked, causing her to laugh. "I'm serious! I'll grab some now and pour it all over me." He added, causing her to laugh harder.

As he went to get out of the bed, she grabbed his arm telling him not to leave in between laughter. Isaac laughed back, then pushed a lock of hair from her face so he could watch her better. It had been awhile since he seen her laugh or smile that much.

Seeing the look on his face, she let out a small chuckle as she asked, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Cause I love you." He answered simply. He lightly touched the end of her nose causing her to smile, then added, "And I missed that smile and that laugh. You have no idea how much I love that smile and laugh."

Teagan smiled at his words, then leaned forward to press her lips against his for a soft kiss. She pulled back to look at him, as she said, "I love you." Giving him another kiss she added, "And I love waking up with you and laying in this bed with you."

"So do I." Isaac said back. He lowered his head, placing his lips against her bare shoulder for a minute. He lifted his head back up to look at her, then added, "But as much as I love this, we have to get up."

"Do we have to?" Teagan pouted. Being with him like this was a dream come true for her and she wasn't ready for it to end.

"Yes, we have to." Isaac said, as he nibbled on her bottom lip when she poked it out. "You do know what today is, right?" He questioned. When she looked at him with a blank, confused stare, he chuckled, "It's your birthday."

"Right. How could I forget my own birthday?" Teagan questioned, as she sat up. She had honestly forgot all about it. Before she moved, her birthday was always a big deal mostly cause Avery made it a big deal, but after she moved she never cared to celebrate it much without her best friend. It just wasn't the same.

"Well, there has been a lot going on lately. It's understandable that it slipped your mind." Isaac pointed out as he got out of bed.

She watched him turn around with his back toward her as he grabbed his blue jeans from the floor. As he slipped them on, she turned her head looking at the bedside table, her eyes landing on the picture of her mother that she kept by her bed.

Her eyes glanced down to the drawer then without even thinking, she reached out to open it. Seeing a wrapped box on the inside. She pulled the small card off of the top and opened it. Seeing that it was a birthday present to her from her mom.

She lowered her eyebrows in confusion, then removed the top from the box and looked inside. She was even more confused when she saw a small crossbow inside the box. She reached in to grab it and pulled it out, looking it over.

"Teagan?" Isaac asked, causing her to look up, seeing what he wanted. Her eyes widen when she saw an arrow sticking out of his heart. "What did you do? What did you do, Teagan?"

"I-I didn't. I didn't- I would never hurt you. I didn't hurt you!" Teagan cried, as she jumped out of the bed with the sheet wrapped around her. She rushed over to Isaac, as he sank to his knees. She went down to the floor with him, pressing the sheet against his wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

When he slumped forward, falling against her shoulder she laid her hand on the back of his head, grabbing a fist full of his hair. She called out his name, then cried out in agony when he didn't answer.

She leaned forward to carefully lay him out on the floor then laid her head on his chest, trying to listen to his heartbeat. "Please, please, don't be dead." She cried, as she pulled back to look at him. She lightly touched the side of his face, as she cried out, "I didn't mean to. Isaac, I didn't mean to."

"Yes, you did." She heard a familiar voice said from behind her. She spun around and gasped, when she saw her mother standing by her bed holding the crossbow. Lisa looked at the weapon as she said, "I see you got my present. That's a good girl."

"No! I didn't do this. You did this!" Teagan accused.

"No, sweet girl, it was all you." Lisa said, as she shook her head. "But it's okay, it's what you had to do." She smiled at her, as she added, "Happy birthday, Teagan."

"NO!" Teagan screamed, as she shot up in bed. When she saw Isaac was standing by her bed, reaching for her, she jumped back, her back slamming against the headboard. She held out her hands, as she cried, "No, don't come near me. Stay- stay away. You got to stay away from me."

"Shh, babe, it's okay, it was just a dream." Isaac said, as he ignored her pleas and sat down on the bed beside her. "No, you can't-" She began to cry, but he cut her off by pulling her toward him and wrapping his arms around her, hoping to give her some comfort and chase away whatever bad dreams she had.

"You can't." Teagan whimpered again, as she tried to pull away from him knowing she didn't deserve his love right now, not after what she'd just did.

The more she tried to pull away, the more he would hold on to her. He kissed the side of her head, then said, "Yes I can. I'm not going anywhere, remember? I'm right here with you, Teagan, you're not alone."

As a sob escaped, she buried her head in his chest wrapping her arms around him and holding on tight. She subconsciously ran her hand over his heart, where she dreamed the arrow pierced him, then breathed a sigh of relief when she realized nothing was there and he was okay.

The longer he held her, the more she was able to calm down and realize it all was just a dream. It was starting to get harder to figure out what was real and what wasn't.

When he heard her heart rate slow down, he pulled back to look at her. He reached out to wipe the moisture from the tears off of her face as he pushed her damp hair aside, looking at her closely he softly said, "You're okay babe, you're okay."

Teagan nodded her head at his words, wishing they were true but she didn't feel okay. She was tired, she was stressed and she was scared. The nightmares and hallucinations were getting more violent, and the urge to make the images come true, the urge to hurt someone she loves was getting worse.

She looked down at her hands, watching them shake in fear then saw Isaac's bigger hands cover them up. She raised her head to look at him, watching as he brought her hands up and kissed the back of them. All she could think was; if he saw some of the things she had done with those hands in her dreams, he wouldn't want them anywhere near him.

Teagan flashed him a small smile in thanks, then pulled her hands away from his as she wrapped her arms around herself, gripping the shirt she was wearing, trying to get them to stop shaking.

She could feel Isaac's eyes on her, she knew he was worried and wanted to know what she dreamed, but she was too ashamed to tell him. How did you tell the person you loved that you had dreams of killing them, and even when you were awake… the urge to hurt them was still there?

Trying to avoid his eyes, she glanced off to the side seeing a tray sitting on her desk. She turned her head back to look at him, as she asked, "What's that?"

"What?" Isaac asked, confused. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing the tray then looked back at her, as he said, "Oh, that. That is your breakfast birthday bunch. Or was it a bunch of birthday breakfast?" He shook his head, then said, "Anyways, it's your breakfast. Your dad mentioned it was something he and your mom use to do on your birthday, but since he had to go into work earlier than usual cause of the power being out, I thought I would make it for you. Thank God, your dad has a generator."

"Birthday breakfast bunch." Teagan softly corrected him. Since she could never decide what she wanted for breakfast on her birthdays, her parents would make small amounts of different things for her to eat, giving her a little bit of everything.

"Right, that is what he called it." Isaac said, as he nodded his head.

"It's my birthday." She mumbled, as she looked down at the comforter on her bed, her dream from earlier coming back to her. Fearfully, she turned her head, looking over her shoulder at the bedside table, her eyes landing on the picture of her mom. She closed her eyes, squeezing them tight as she hoped and prayed this wasn't another nightmare.

"Oh that reminds me." Isaac said, as he stood up from the bed and walked over to the table she was looking at. When she saw him reached to open the drawer she reached out and slammed it shut, as she breathed out, "No, don't."

"Hey, what's wrong?" Isaac questioned when he saw the scared look on her face. He sat back down beside her, lightly caressing her cheek as he said, "Talk to me, Teagan. What happened? In your dream, I mean."

"It was similar to this, a few things were the same but the rest were different." Teagan quietly said, as she wrapped her arms around herself. "But, over there..." She began to say, as she glanced over at the table. "There was something in the drawer and I'm scared... what if it really is in there?" She questioned.

"What if what is in there?" Isaac asked.

She raised her eyes to look at him, as she pleaded, "Just please, don't open it."

"Okay, I won't open it." Isaac said, when he saw how scared she was. He stood up from the bed, walking over to the tray to pick it up. He brought it back to the bed, sitting it down in front of her. Not only did he have a few different breakfast foods but he also had a store bought cupcake, with a single candle on top.

"You were going to get the lighter." Teagan stated, realizing that is what he was going to open the drawer for. To use the lighter she had in there to light the scented candles in her room. He was only trying to light the small candle on the cupcake.

Isaac nodded his head, letting her know she was right then said, "But we don't have to light it. You can still make a wish and just pretend to blow it out. It'll still count."

Teagan softly smiled, then leaned forward to press her lips against his for a gentle kiss. She didn't know how she got so lucky to find an amazingly caring boyfriend like him, but in her opinion she didn't need to make a wish. Because he would be exactly what she would wish for; she didn't need anything else.

"Happy birthday, babe." Isaac mumbled against her lips.

"Thank you, boyfriend." Teagan said back, a genuine smile on her face.

Isaac pulled back to look at her, tapping her on the end of the nose to make her laugh causing him to smile. He had missed hearing her laugh and seeing a real smile on her face.

The two sat on her bed in a comfortable silence, as they ate breakfast together. Once they were done, Isaac removed the tray, then sat down in front of her as he said,"Okay, time for your present."

"I get a present too?" Teagan asked. She gestured toward the tray, as she said, "I thought that was my present."

"That was just a present. There's more." Isaac said, as he reached into his front pants pocket. He pulled out a plastic container, like the type you get from a gumball machine. He laid it in her hands, but didn't remove his hand as he said, "I know this might be lame, but it's something Camden and I use to do when we were kids. We would buy each other something from a gumball machine and I wanted to start that tradition with you. I hope that's okay."

"That's more than okay." Teagan said with a wide smile. "I love it."

"You haven't seen it yet." Isaac pointed out.

"I don't care. I love it already." She said back.

Isaac smiled at her words, then said, "I hope so. I spent a lot of quarters trying to win the perfect thing for you." He chuckled, then removed his hand as he said, "Okay, open it."

Teagan grinned as she popped the lid off, then turned the container over, causing the prize inside to fall into her hand. It was a small cheap bracelet with a heart charm hanging from it. She looked up at Isaac, as she held it against her chest then said, "I love it."

"Here, I'll put it on." Isaac said, as he reached out to grab her hand, taking the bracelet from her. He looked down at it, then lowered his eyebrows, as he said, "Wait, that's not the right one."

"What?" Teagan asked confused. She saw him reached into his other pocket to pull out another plastic container. He held it out to her, as he said, "This is the right present."

"What is this?" She asked with a smile as she took the container from his hand. Like before, she popped the top off, and then turned the container upside down to pour whatever was inside into her hand.

She gasped in surprise when she saw the bracelet. It looked similar to the fake one, but this one was older and definitely not fake, with a heart charm and a key charm hanging from it.

She looked up at Isaac with wide eyes, as she said, "Isaac, this is-this is beautiful. Where did you-"

"It was my mom's." He answered, knowing she was wondering where it came from. "It was originally my grandmother's. My grandfather gave it to her on their first anniversary. It's a heart and a key, cause he said that she has his heart and the only key to it, she was it for him." He explained, as he took the bracelet from her hand.

He wrapped it around her wrist, as he continued, "When my grandmother died, my mom got it. She had it for years but never wore it, I asked her why, and she said she was saving it for someone special. Then when she died, she left it to me with a letter. In the letter she explained all of this to me and told me to save it for someone special, save it for the one who has my heart and the key to it. Save it for the one who was it for me." He clipped the bracelet on her wrist, and then lightly ran his finger against the charms, before he looked up at her and said, "And I have… I found that girl. You have my heart, Teagan. You have the only key to it and you are it for me."

Teagan sniffed, wiping away the small tear from her cheek. She scooted closer to him, wrapping her legs around him and laying her hands on the side of his face. "Thank you. Thank you for being you, for loving me, for that amazing story and for this beautiful bracelet. Thank you for everything, Isaac. I am so completely in love with you, you are it for me too. You are all I want for the rest of my life."

Isaac smiled as he laid a hand on the back of her neck, pulling her toward him as he kissed her tenderly, taking his time with her. He leaned forward laying her back against the bed. He pulled his shirt from over his head, and then leaned down to resume the kissing. Within minutes the rest of his clothes were off, as well as hers, as he gave her another birthday present.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN –Thank you for reading. ^_^**


	14. No One Under 18 Permitted

**Chapter 14 - No One Under 18 Permitted**

* * *

><p>After some birthday bedroom fun, Teagan and Isaac finally got out of bed and got ready for school. After pulling into the parking lot, Isaac gave her a quick kiss before rushing inside the building, needing to talk to one of his teachers before the bell rang.<p>

Teagan was walking alone across the parking lot, until she heard someone call out her name. She turned around to see who it was, then felt someone throw their arms around her –hugging her tight. When the familiar perfume hit her nose she smiled, hugging the person back, as she said, "Good morning, A."

"Morning!" Avery called out. She pulled back to look at her best friend, a smile on her face, as she added, "Happy birthday, bestie!"

"Thanks." Teagan said, smiling. As the two best friends began to walk together, she glanced over at Avery as she added, "Now, A, I know how you are about birthdays, so promise me you are not going to do something extravagant. You know how I feel about big parties, plus with everything going on… it's probably best to do something low-key."

"Right, low-key." Avery said, as she looked down at her phone.

"Avery, I'm serious." Teagan said, as she looked over at her best friend.

"I know, I heard you." Avery said. "Low-key." She repeated, but was already thinking of what all she still needed to get for the party that night.

"Avery..." Teagan began to say, as she came to a stop.

"What? I said I heard you. Low-key, low-key, low-key." Avery said, as she rolled her eyes.

"No, I need to talk to you about something." Teagan said, as she reached out to grab her arm, bringing her to a stop.

"Sounds serious." Avery said, as she turned around seeing the look on her friend's face.

"It is." Teagan said, planning to talk to her about the racing that Stiles recently told her about since this was the first chance she had to talk to her about it.

"About what?" Avery asked, curious on what was wrong. Before Teagan could open her mouth, she saw something from over her shoulder, causing her to tilt her head to the side with a confused look on her face.

"What? What is it?" Teagan questioned, seeing the look on her face. She turned her head, seeing a cop car slowly driving by. At first she wondered if it was the Sheriff, maybe needing to talk to Stiles about something but she realized it wasn't Stiles' dad, it was a younger guy and he was staring right at Avery.

Teagan gasped as she turned around to look at Avery, as she called out, "Oh, my God, Avery! What did you do?"

"What?" Avery said with a laugh. "Why do you think I did something?" She questioned, as she glanced back at the cop car, wondering what Deputy Parrish was doing there.

"Maybe cause there is a cop car driving by our school and the cop inside is staring right at you!" Teagan pointed out.

"He's not staring at me." Avery argued, a small smile on her face as she realized Teagan was right, he was staring at her.

"He is staring at you. What did you do?" Teagan asked again.

Avery shot Parrish a wink, before he drove off then scoffed as she turned back to look at Teagan. "I didn't do anything. The cops are obviously ramping up security since the whole Barrow incident. Parents tend to frown when there is a psycho roaming the school."

"So you haven't done anything? Nothing at all that would make a cop check up on you?" Teagan pushed.

"Hmm..." Avery said, as she pretended to think the question over. Some of the bad choices she had made recently flashed through her head but instead of listing them to her best friend, she just smiled, as she shook her head and said, "Nope, nothing."

"Avery..." Teagan began to say, as the bell rang.

"Oops there's the bell. We better go, don't want cops coming by again cause we're skipping." She joked, as she grabbed Teagan's hand and began to walk toward the building.

"We still need to talk, by the way." Teagan pointed out.

"And we will." Avery said, then added, "But later. Today is your birthday, nothing but happy times today. The drama will still be there tomorrow." She glanced down, seeing the new bracelet on Teagan's wrist, then said, "Love the bracelet. Is it new?"

"Thanks, yeah..." Teagan began to say, as she looked down at it with a smile on her face as she thought about Isaac giving it to her earlier. Her face fell when she saw it wasn't the bracelet he gave her, but instead her mother's bracelet.

"No." She gasped, as she grabbed at the bracelet, trying to rip it off.

"Teagan?" Avery said, seeing the panic look on her face. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"It's not... This isn't.." Teagan began to say, as she looked up at Avery. She shook her head, trying to understand what was happening then looked back down her wrist. She breathed out a sigh of relief, when she saw the right bracelet was on her wrist. The one Isaac gave her.

"Teagan, what happened?" Avery asked with a concern look.

"I-I don't know. I don't know what happened." Teagan mumbled, as she looked back down at her wrist, running her finger over the heart and key charm, itching to run and find Isaac, needing his comfort.

"Teagan.." Avery began to say, trying to get her to talk to her.

"I got to get to class." Teagan mumbled. She flashed her a small smile, as she added, "I'll talk to you later, A."

"Happy birthday, T." Avery sadly said, as she watched her best friend rush off. Today should be a happy day, but it was starting to feel like there would be no more happy days for any of them. She wasn't going to give up though, she would do whatever to make sure her best friend had a happy life. She would do anything to fix her friends.

**~()~**

Avery rounded the corner in the hallway and came to a complete stop as she saw Scott and Stiles talking at the lockers, she felt terrible for avoiding them but she felt even worse for the things she'd said to them the night before. She'd picked at their weaknesses, said things she knew would hurt them.

But that wasn't really her, or at least that's what she tried to tell herself to lessen the guilt she was feeling.

When Scott raised his head and looked her way, her eyes widened and she quickly turned to dart in the other direction, but she almost ran right into Kira.

"Oh, uh- hey…" She breathed as she tucked her dark hair behind her ears and avoided contact with the blonde.

"Hey…" Avery breathed back as she walked around the new student and headed to the nearest bathroom.

Kira looked down to the ground frowning, not only was she still confused about what had happened with Barrow, but she didn't have an explanation for how she'd managed to walk through that much electricity and live to tell the tale.

Plus, she was pretty sure she'd lost the only friends she'd managed to make.

Sighing she raised her head and saw Scott and Stiles watching her.

Having almost the same reaction to them that Avery had –had she turned and scurried off through the other students away from the friends. After all what could she tell them when they asked how she'd made it through being electrocuted?

Dropping her bag to the floor just inside of the door, Avery ran to the nearest sink and hung her head Scott and Stiles were two of her closest friends and she knew she needed to go and apologize to them but she couldn't bring herself to face them now.

Taking a deep breath she looked up at the mirror and gasped when she saw her mom's scarred and burned face staring back at her. Closing her eyes she counted to ten and opened them, expecting her face to be gone but this time it didn't work.

"No, no, no…" she breathed pinning her eyes shut so hard it was painful as she counted out loud, once she reached ten she opened her eyes but to her horror it was still her mom's reflection staring back at her.

Swallowing hard Avery raised her hand and touched the side of her face but her mom's reflection didn't follow suit. Instead she reached a hand up putting her palm facing towards her daughter.

"It's not real… this isn't real…" Avery whispered to herself as she reached out her hand, placing it against her mother's palm.

Almost screaming she jumped backwards; she hadn't felt cold glass under her touch but an actual human hand.

Staring down to her hand in shock it took a few moments for her gaze to snap back up toward the mirror, her hands immediately started to sweat and her entire body trembled from fear as she watched her mom slowly climbing out of the mirror. Her body twisting in ways that bones should be snapping, nothing about it was human.

Without another thought she raced out of the bathroom, pushing students out of her way and even knocking a few of them down before she ran into a room without even checking to see what room it was. All she knew was that she needed away from the terrifying sight she'd just witnessed.

Once the room, she pushed some students out of her way on the way to the mirror against the far wall over the row of sinks. When she was met by her own reflections she breathed out a huge sigh of relief as she lowered her head for a few moments.

When she looked back up her gaze traveled to the left where she saw someone else in the mirror, her nose wrinkled with disgust as she remarked, "My god Greenburg get a towel… no one wants to see that."

Closing her eyes she shook the vision from her head and then she realized she was in the boy's locker room.

Turning around she saw one of the twins, she couldn't tell which one giving her a confused look as he held onto a towel loosely draped around his waist.

As she looked around she realized there were several guys staring at her. Taking a deep breath and trying to control her nerves she snapped, "What?"

A low rumble of talking bounced off the walls as everyone went back to what they were doing, while a few of the guys called out her name and a few more dropped their towels completely.

"Hey Avery…" one of the students she couldn't remember the name of but she had been with during a party before said as his towel dropped to the floor next to her.

With a sigh she glanced over his body and shook her head back and forth, patting his arm she glanced down as she smugly said, "Trust me, honey… it wasn't that impressive the first time."

Breezing past him she walked up to where Danny was standing as she said, "Everything's still on for tonight, right?"

"Avery?" He asked surprised as he gave her a confused look and asked, "What are you doing in here?"

Rolling her eyes and pretending that she'd went into the room on purpose she crossed her arms over her chest and said, "Yes! It's my best friends birthday and you've not been texting me back."

"I just got off the phone… and it's no good. With the black out and the mandatory curfew, the plans fell through." He admitted, almost cringing at the thought of having to be the one delivering the bad news to her.

"Portable generators?" She asked with an arched brow.

"I already tried that." He admitted.

"It's a black light party… we won't even need that much power." She argued.

Nodding he pulled his shirt on as he said, "That's what I said. So, whats the plan?"

Glancing over to where one of the twins was watching them she shot him a look as she answered Danny, "I don't know, but it's Teagan… she's been going through a lot lately and she needs this! She needs a night to just forget about everything and have fun. I'll text you later."

Ignoring the remarks a few of the guys made as she walked by she headed out to the hallway, dreading having to go back into the girl's bathroom to get her book bag.

**~()~**

It was a few classes later before Teagan was able to go to her locker to change out her books. She spun the dial around, putting in her combination then pulled the door open. She jumped back in surprise, as several colorful balloons popped out.

She breathed out a chuckle, as she laid her hand on her heart waiting for it to stop racing. She glanced around relived that the hallway was basically empty, the less who knew it was her birthday, the better. But she couldn't stop a small smile from appearing on her face, as she turned back to look inside the locker. She saw a card and small gift bag sitting inside the metal space.

She picked up the card recognizing Lydia's handwriting, which didn't surprise her. The whole decorating a locker was something she had done for years. She used to decorate their lockers in junior high and their cubby holes in elementary school.

Teagan opened the envelope the card was in, pulling it to open then chuckled when glitter fell out, covering her and the floor. Of course Lydia would fill the card with glitter making her look like a fairy threw up on her afterwards.

She saw a gift card on the inside, and smiled, as she read Lydia note about the gift card was for their next shopping trip, which they were going on very soon. In her opinion, they still needed to look stylish while going up against all the monsters of Beacon Hills.

Teagan slipped the card in her bag, then reached out to grab the small gift bag. She pulled a card out of it seeing that it was from Allison. She felt tears fill her eyes as she read the words on the inside as Allison talked about how happy she was that the two were friends and were able to settle their differences. She wrote out how proud she was of Teagan, and how no matter what, she would always be there for her.

She wiped a tear from her cheek, then reached into the bag bringing out a bottle of perfume. She gave it a small sniff, the sweet floral scent hitting her nose. She even picked up a small hint of citrus mixed in. It was a pleasant scent that wasn't too over powering.

She placed the perfume and card in her bag with the other card, then reached into the locker to grab her books. When she heard someone walking down the hall, she quickly grabbed another book and tried to shove the balloons back in before anyone saw them unfortunately she wasn't fast enough as she heard someone stop beside her.

"Birthday?" She heard someone ask, then turned her head to see one of the former alpha twins standing beside her.

She looked at him closely, realizing it was Aiden, then turned back to slam her locker shut. Without a word she turned to walk away, not wanting to talk to him. He rushed down the hallway after her, reaching out to grab her arm as he said, "Wait."

Teagan jerked her arm back then turned around to face him. She laid her hands against her bag, as she said, "I have a dagger with me and not afraid to use it."

Aiden held up his hands in surrender, as he said, "I'm not here for that. I just want to talk to you."

"Oh, okay." Teagan said with a short nod. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that meant she was going to give him a chance to speak, but when she turned to walk away he lowered his eyebrows in confusion, as he called out, "Wait, where are you going?"

Teagan turned back around an annoyed look on her face, as she said, "You said you needed to talk, but that doesn't mean I want to talk to you, Aiden."

"Okay, fine, maybe I deserved that." He said with a roll of his eyes. He honestly thought it would be easier to talk to her. Talking to Avery was out of the question, Lydia looked at him like he was a bad guy, and he knew his brother was trying to get through to Danny with no luck –making him think talking to Teagan was the best way to go. He was now realizing his mistake as she looked at him like the rest did, but he wasn't going to give up.

"Maybe?" Teagan questioned with a scoff. In her opinion he deserved everything she threw his way.

"Look, I know I have no right to ask you for anything, but I was wondering if you can help me with something." Aiden said, doing something he thought he never had to do again, ask for help. He thought after becoming alpha, he never had to ask for anything again he could just make it happen but now that was gone so he was right back to begging, something he hated to do.

"Unless its directions out of town, I can't help you." Teagan snapped, as she folded her arms across her chest.

Seeing the look on her face, he scoffed, then said, "You know, I'm not the total monster you think I am. Yeah, I did things that I probably shouldn't have but I was just trying to survive. In my world, you have to kill or be killed."

Teagan softly gasped at his last words as if on cue, she could softly hear her mother's whispery words. "Tuer ou être tué." She mumbled, repeating the phrase running through her head.

"What?" Aiden asked confused, barely hearing what she said.

"Tuer ou être tué." Teagan repeated a little louder. She looked at Aiden, as she translated, "Kill or be killed."

"Right." Aiden said, with a nod. "It's what I had to do." He added.

As the voice got louder in her head she shook her head, getting angry, as she said, "You didn't have to do anything. You should have fought against it. You should have been stronger… you shouldn't have hurt him!"

Aiden opened his mouth to question which 'he' she was talking about, but before he could, she took a step closer to him and pushed him, as she said, "I won't hurt him!" She pushed him a few more times, as she continued ,"I don't care how much you haunt me, I won't hurt him again. No matter what you say, I will fight and fight against you, each and every time. I won't do it!"

As she raised her fist to punch him he grabbed her wrist stopping her. A confused look on his face, as he asked out, "What the hell are you talking about?" When she didn't answer him, he called out her name watching her blink, then look up at him seeming more confused than he was.

Teagan gasped, as she jerked her arm away from him and took a quick step back. She glanced around the empty hallway, realizing she blanked out for a moment and thought she was arguing with her mother, not talking to Aiden.

She looked back over at him, as she said ,"Look, whatever you need help with, I can't help you. I won't help you, I'm sorry."

"Scott needs a pack, my brother and I need an alpha." Aiden pointed out, then added, "If we don't, we're as good as dead."

"I'm sorry." Teagan whispered, as she shook her head. A small part of her did feel bad for the twins, but then when she remembered all the bad they did; she didn't know if she could ever forgive them. "I'm just- I'm sorry." She continued, feeling too drained to explain what she was feeling.

Without another word, she turned around to rushing down the hallway, wanting to get away from the desperate and defeated look on his face as well as the words circling around her head. But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't escape it; she could never escape it.

**~()~**

Later that day Avery stopped at her locker and grabbed the bottle of eye drops off the shelf and tilted her head back as she squeezed a few drops into each eye, before carefully blotting around the edge with a paper towel as to not mess up her make up.

"Long night?" A voice questioned.

Looking over she saw Ethan and Aiden, the one who'd spoke was wearing a half smile.

"Long life." She sighed as she shut her locker and turned to face them, placing her hands on her hips with attitude as she looked between them.

"What do you want?"

When Aiden didn't speak up, Ethan said, "We know about the backlight party you and Danny we're going to throw for Teagan."

Nodding she said, "Those plans fell through."

Looking at his brother and sighing when he didn't help out. Ethan continued, "I know of a place where we can hold the party, I could have brought it up to Danny but we came to you first, out of respect."

"Respect?" she scoffed, narrowing her eyes, "You didn't show me an ounce of respect before… so why start now. Trying to change your ways? Coming over to the good side?"

They both sighed and forced themselves to keep their anger in check, despite her taunting words and tone.

Rolling her eyes at their silence she asked, "Where?"

"Derek's loft." Aiden finally said, his voice was harsh as was the look his brother shot him.

She'd already had the idea for that, in fact she'd already given Danny the address the loft and told him to spread it around but seeing them trying to be nice to her was too priceless to shoot down immediately.

"Please?" Ethan questioned.

"Wait… which one are you?" She asked, poking a finger hard in the center of his chest.

Taking a step back he rubbed the spot she touched and sighed, "Ethan."

"Ah okay, then I want to hear you ask me." Her attention was completely focused on Aiden now as he stared back at her unamused.

When he opened his mouth, he'd intended on going off on her. No one talked to him like that, but then he thought back to what Lydia had told him about not wanting to be with the bad guys.

And he knew he and his brother needed a part in Scott's pack, they needed the strength and security a pack provides and everyone could see how close Scott and Avery had gotten.

"We want to help you..." He groaned.

Cupping a hand behind her ear Avery said, "What? Sorry I didn't that…"

"We want to help throw a party at Derek's loft." His voice was in a growl that time, as he thought they should have just told Danny instead of bothering trying to talk to Avery. They were just coming to her first as an attempt to show Scott they were making an effort.

"Still not coming through clearly…" She said her voice menacing.

Sighing Aiden glanced at his brother and said, "I think we need to rethink this not killing anyone policy."

Closing his eyes for a second and almost laughing Ethan quietly said, "I think she meant ask her politely."

Groaning and crossing his arms over his chest, with his face contorted as if almost every word was hurting him to speak, he questioned, "Derek's loft is the perfect place to throw this party… please let us help."

Smirking she laughed as she smoothed out the end of her short shirt and said, "I can get the entertainment, you two get the drinks and help Danny spread the word… but neither of you breathe a word of this to Teagan or I'll take a page from the Argent's handbook and take up the art of hemicorporectomy."

"The art of what?" Aiden asked his forehead lined with confusion.

Lazily swinging her hips she took a step forward and reached out trailing a finger down his stomach and then running it across his lower stomach as she said, "I'll take a broad sword and dissect you at your waist."

He looked down to where she'd touched him and then back at with an arched eyebrow.

Taking a step back and smirking at their expressions she nodded, "Oh yeah, I'm really that twisted… and FYI we were already using the loft."

Without another word she turned and walked away, leaving two stunned brothers standing in the hallway behind her.

**~()~**

"What do you mean the generators aren't there yet?" Avery breathed out frustrated, as she threw the door open to the store after paying for her purchase.

"I'm saying the guy you called hasn't showed up yet." Danny said as he looked around the inside of the loft where they were holding the party tonight.

"Okay, then send Ethan and Aiden to the basement, I know for a fact there are 3 gas powered generators there we can use." She instructed not paying attention to anything outside of the phone call. It was bad enough their original venue had fallen through last minute, now everything seemed to be going wrong.

"Who did you say owns this place?" Danny questioned as he saw some people setting up some tables for black light body paint.

"A friend. Just don't worry about it, he'll never know." Avery said before barking orders at him again to send the twins after the generators, just as she ended the phone call she ran right into someone walking in the opposite direction.

The bag fell from her hand and the contents rained out as it fell to the ground, but luckily she managed to catch her phone before it hit the sidewalk.

"Ugh." She complained, pushing hair out of her face as she started to tell the other person off, "Could you really not see me walking here…"

Her voice trailed off as she was met by a familiar face with a pair of green eyes she found herself thinking about more and more.

"Deputy Parrish." She greeted with a wink.

A step up from her refusing to talk to him just the night before when he'd taken her back to her car after the incident at the power substation with the shrapnel bomber, Barrow.

"Miss Dukate." He greeted keeping pace with her flirtatious greeting.

"Happy Halloween!" She greeted smiling widely.

Her naturally wavy hair was laying straight, topped with a cat ear headband, his gaze fell to the dark red leopard print bralette top and tight leather micro-shorts.

"Uh –you look…" He stuttered forcing his gaze back up to her face as he tried to remind himself again that she was just a teenager.

"Great, right?" She asked with an arched eyebrow as she motioned to her outfit and said, "It's new."

"I take it you're feeling better after everything that happened yesterday?" He asked, watching her expression closely as her smile fell before she quickly regained her smug expression and said, "Much better, it's Halloween and I planned a huge party!"

"But there's a town curfew because of the power outage." He said with slightly squinted eyes, trying to figure out how she now seemed completely unphased from the day before.

Stifling a laugh she nodded and raised her eyebrows, letting him know with just an expression that she couldn't care less about the curfew.

"So… what are you doing here?" She questioned motioning to the strip-mall shopping center behind her.

"Oh, I was just grabbing dinner before my shift…" He nodded to the sandwich shop to the left of them and said, "It's one of the few restaurants still open in the outage."

"What about you?"

"Just picking up some things before my party." She nonchalantly responded as she started to kneel down to pick up the spilt contents of her shopping bag.

Politely leaning down to help her he apologized, "Sorry for running into you…"

His voice trailed off and she looked at him confused for a brief second until she saw he was holding out a black box kit with the words, 'first time bondage kit' in bright pink lettering.

His cheeks darkened and he glanced over to the adult store realizing that must have been where she'd come from.

Laughing she pulled the box from him and said, "I only got this for the blindfold…" seeing he was avoiding eye contact she decided to make him more uncomfortable as she continued, "And the rope whip… also partly because of the ball gag."

She heard him let out a ragged breath as he tried to look everywhere but at her. A wide smile spread over her lips, she was the one who'd just been caught shopping in an adult store, yet she'd managed to embarrass him.

"Can you hand me that please?" She asked innocently pointing to another box on the ground near his feet.

"Uh, here you go…" He cleared his throat as he picked up the see through package containing an edible candy bra and thong set.

Taking it from him, she purposely brushed her hand against his as she proudly announced, "It's cherry flavored."

"Oh my god…" He breathed as his gaze fell back to the ground as he rubbed his forehead and saw her picked up another box titled, 'love cuffs' with bright pink fuzzy handcuffs.

Knowing the contents of her shopping bag wouldn't be scattered on the ground for anyone who walked by to see if he hadn't run into her, he leaned back down and silently picked up a set of glow in the dark erotic dice, pausing for a moment as he read the label before handing them to her.

Looking at the dice she glanced up at him from under her mascara darkened lashes and questioned, "You ever used these before?"

Letting out a noise like the air had been knocked out of him he cleared his throat, "I'm not going to talk about this with you."

"Why not?" She asked as she dropped the dice in the bag and simply responded, "I have."

Closing his eyes for a moment he reminded both himself and her, "You're not even supposed to be able to go into that store…" They both glanced over at the 'no one under 18 permitted' sign on the door.

Before she could answer he thought out loud, "Why is a store like that even open in a city wide blackout?"

"No T.V. and no computers… what else are people going to do? They're making a killing in there." She reasoned as a young couple walked out of the store hand in hand.

"I know what you're thinking…" She teased when the young deputy remained silent.

"I'm thinking…" He started to say but she cut him off by waving her hand in the air.

"You're probably thinking that I'm some kind of kinky freak… hardcore into S&M or something, but…"

This time it was his turn to cut her off as he assured her, "I wasn't thinking that."

"Oh, then what were you thinking?" She pushed with a sultry smile as she took a step closer to him.

"For one, I'm really starting to wonder what kind of party you're throwing. And I'm also thinking you somehow got another fake id…"

She bit down on her lightly glossed bottom lip, holding back a laugh as she said, "It's a birthday party for my best friend, no comment on the second part though." Then with a knowing smile her eyes traveled over his snug fitting police uniform as she purred, "And Deputy Parrish… I know that's not the only thing you were thinking."

The now familiar scent of her cherry blossom perfume was in the air as she leaned in dangerously close for her last sentence. As his green eyes locked with hers he was met by a sultry, lustful look in her eye's light brown hues.

With an internal smirk at his reaction and the look she saw in his eyes, she knew she'd drawn him in. Chances were she was the only thing he was now aware of as they stood there in close proximity, and quietly asked, "So… how long until your shift starts?"

Managing to gather his logic and strength he reminded her. "Barely long enough to pick up my dinner."

She sighed heavily as he stepped past her towards the sandwich shop and said, "Have a nice Halloween, Miss Dukate."

Glancing over her shoulder she saw him look back at her one time before disappearing into the dimly let restaurant.

With a frown on her face she walked to her car and opened the trunk pulling out the large gift bag she'd bought for her friends present, pulling the price tag off of things she started to fill the bag.

She glanced back over to the doors, but he was still inside and her frown grew. Every single time he walked away from her it left her with an almost unnaturally cold feeling; a sentiment of being more alone than she'd felt before their interactions.

Parrish walked out of the sandwich shop and paused as he watched Avery adjusting some pink and purple tissue paper in the top of a gift bag before, shutting her trunk and getting into her car slamming her door behind her. He stood where he was and watched as she backed out of her spot and left.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- I really hope you all liked the chapter, thank you so much for reading.**

**If you aren't already; you can follow Miss E Charlotte and myself on Tumblr and Polyvore! We both have links on our profiles, along with links to videos that go along with The Blue Moon Series. ^_^**

**We put so much time into not only writing this story but working to get chapters out on a regular basis, and it would mean so much to us if you'd take the time and leave us a review. We's appreciate the support so much!**


	15. Black Light Night

**Chapter 15 - Black Light Night**

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><p>Later that night, after having a birthday dinner with her father, Teagan went upstairs to get ready. Isaac told her he had one more surprise for her, he was taking her somewhere but wouldn't tell her where, leaving her confused on what to wear.<p>

She finally settled on a black and purple, floral, knee length, dress. She slipped on a pair of short shorts underneath, in case whatever they had planned was not suitable for a skirt.

Once she was dressed, she put the bracelet on that Isaac gave her and spayed on some of the perfume from Allison. Then slipped on a pair of black high heels as the door bell rang, followed by a quick bark from Aspen, who was laying on her bed while she was getting dressed.

Teagan told Aspen to go back to sleep, as she quickly threw a crop jean jacket on over the dress. She grabbed a small purse which had her wallet, keys and cell phone in it then made her way downstairs to answer the door, since her father had went back to work after their dinner.

As the door opened, Isaac looked up –any words he had planned to say escaped his mind, as he saw her standing in front of him. She was breathtakingly beautiful and she was all his; something that still surprised him sometimes.

"Is this okay?" Teagan questioned with a worried look, as she gestured to her outfit. "I don't know what you have planned, so I don't know if this is okay or if it's too much-"

"It's... wow, you-you look... God you're so beautiful." Isaac interrupted, finding it hard to speak in full sentences. He knew Avery was throwing her a surprise birthday party and he knew where the party was taking place, but truthfully he wasn't sure what kind of party it was going to be to know if she was overdressed or not but either way, he didn't care. She looked amazing and he couldn't wait to walk into the room with her on his arm.

Teagan smiled at his words and at the look he was giving her. She would never get tired of the way he looked at her, like she was the most special person in the world. It made her happy, it made her feel safe and it made her feel loved.

Isaac stepped into the house laying a hand on her waist as he leaned forward to give her a quick kiss. At least he planned for it to be quick, but when her new perfume hit his nose, he kissed her again then kissed across her jaw and down the side of her neck.

"God, you smell good." He mumbled before nipping at her skin.

"If you keep that up, we might never make it to your big surprise." Teagan pointed out, as she rolled her head to the side, giving him better access to her neck. She bit her bottom lip to hold back a moan, as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Maybe we should just cancel and stay here." She suggested, as she pushed her body closer to his.

Isaac rested his hands on her hips, fighting the urge to pull her against him, if he did he was worried they never would leave the house. A part of him wanted that, he wanted to take her upstairs and just forget the party but he knew if he did that Avery would kick his ass. That's basically what she told him earlier when she dropped him off at Teagan's house, to bring Teagan straight to the party or else.

"I would love to... God, you don't know how bad I want to.." He began to say, as he kissed across her shoulder, wishing he could taste every inch of her. He kissed back over to her neck, nuzzling his nose against her skin and took a deep breath as he added, "But unfortunately, we have to go or we'll be late."

"Late for what?" Teagan questioned, hoping he would slip up and tell her.

"Late for your-" He began to say without thinking. Once he realized what he was about to do, he jerked his head up, then said,"Nuh-uh, you are not going to trick me. I can't tell you, it's a surprise."

He chuckled at the pout on her face then grabbed her hand, pulling outside and over to her car. He took the car keys from her and opened the passenger side door for her. Once she was inside, he went around to the driver side and slid in behind the wheel.

He slid the key in the ignition, but before he could crank the car she turned in her seat to face him and said his name to get his attention. When he turned his head to face her, seeing what she wanted, she leaned forward to press her lips against his for a heated kiss.

He placed a hand on the side of her face, cupping he cheek, as he deepened the kiss. "You are not making this easy for me." He breathed out, as he rested his forehead against hers.

"So you're saying I'm making it hard?" She teased, as she flashed him a grin.

Isaac chuckled, as he nodded his head, then said,"Yes, you are. Very, very hard."

Teagan laughed out loud, then glanced down at his lap for a moment, biting her bottom lip, then looked back up at him with raised eyebrows. "Good to know I still have that effect on you." She said with a smile.

"You always have that effect on me." Isaac pointed out, as he leaned forward to kiss her but before he could, she pulled back. "Nu-uh. No more of that, until you tell me where we are going." She said, teasing him.

Isaac's mouth dropped open in surprise, realizing she was trying to bribe him. "That is really dirty, babe. I can't just give your surprise away." He explained.

"At least give me a hint." Teagan suggested. She leaned forward giving him a kiss, when she felt him star to kiss her back, she pulled back, causing him to groan out in frustration. She grinned, and added, "Just a tiny, little, hint."

"Is this what you've been learning in your training lessons? How to torture and blackmail werewolves?" Isaac questioned, causing her to laugh. When he saw her shrug, he sighed, then said, "Okay, look in the backseat."

"What?" Teagan asked confused.

"There's a present for you in the back from Avery..." He began to say, as he saw her look back and grab the gift bag he put in there earlier after Avery dropped him off. "There is something in that bag that you have to put on now so I can take you to your big surprise."

Teagan removed the pink and purple tissue paper aside then looked down into the bag, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw all the different types of sex related stuff. She grabbed a box that contained a pair of bright pink fuzzy handcuffs, then raised her eyes to look at Isaac as she said, "Please tell me I'm not wearing these."

"No." Isaac said with a laugh. "Well not right now, but we can try it later." He added with a wink, causing her cheeks to turn bright red.

"What is this?" Teagan questioned out loud, as she picked up a set of glow in the dark erotic dice.

"I don't know." Isaac answered, as he took the box from her, reading what it said. He grinned as he added, "But we are so trying these."

"Oh my God." Teagan breathed out with a laugh, seeing how excited he was.

He reached out to pull the bag a little toward him to see inside it, he honestly didn't know what all Avery tossed in there. She wouldn't let him look at it earlier. All she told him was there were things in there that would make Teagan and him very happy. The only thing he did know that was in there was a blindfold, which is what she was supposed to put on now so he would drive her to the party.

"Ah, this is what we need right now." Isaac said, as he pulled out the box marked 'first time bondage kit'.

"Bondage?" Teagan squeaked out with wide eyes.

Isaac laughed out loud, as he opened the box and took the blindfold out. "I just need it for this." He said, as he showed her the blindfold, then continued, "You can calm down, babe."

"What the hell kind of place are you taking me that I need to be blindfolded?" Teagan questioned.

"You're really not getting the concept of a surprise are you?" Isaac teased, then added, "Just put this on and we'll be there before you know it." When she gave him a look, he laughed, then said, "Come on, you know I wouldn't take you anywhere bad or dangerous. Just trust me, okay?"

"You're lucky that I do trust you. And that I love you." She said, as she took the blindfold from his hand. "And that I'm nosy as hell about where you are taking me." She added, as she placed the blindfold over her eyes, leaving herself in darkness.

"Trust me, I will never forget how lucky I am to have you, Teagan." Isaac said sincerely. He leaned over to give her a quick peek on the lips before whispering against her lips, "I love you too, by the way." As she smiled at his words, he cranked the car and said, "Now lean back and relax. We will be there soon."

Teagan wasn't sure how long he had been driving, to her it felt like forever since she was blindfolded and had no idea where they were going. When he turned the car off, she reached up to pull the blindfold off but he pushed her hands aside, telling her not yet.

He sent Avery a quick text letting her know they were there, then he jumped out of the car feeling a cool breeze against his skin and hearing the music upstairs bumping. He glanced up at the top floor, seeing the black lights and strobe lights inside the loft. He smiled, happy to see that Avery was able to pull the party off after all even though the whole town was still blacked out.

With everything going on lately, they all needed a night to unwind and have fun. They needed a night where they could be regular teenagers and not worry about anything. And that was exactly what he and Avery wanted to give Teagan, a carefree night with no worries, no drama and no nightmares. Just a night with her friends, drinking and having a good time. In his opinion that was the best gift he and Avery could give her.

He made his way over to the passenger side, opening the door, then reached in to lightly grabbed her arm and help her out of the car. Since she couldn't see, Teagan tilted her head to the side trying to use her other senses to try to figure out where she was or what was going on.

"Can I take this off now? I feel ridiculous." Teagan said, as she reached up to the blindfold.

"In a minute, hold on." Isaac said, as he pushed her hands away from the blindfold again. He chuckled when he heard her quietly groan. He stepped behind her, placing his hands on her hips, as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "And you don't like ridiculous, by the way. You look beautiful." He kissed the side of her neck, then rubbed his nose against her skin, as he added, "And I have mentioned how good you smell?"

"Maybe once or twice." Teagan said with laugh, as she leaned back against him, reaching back to place her hand on the back of his head; after hitting him in the face a few times from not being able to see.

"You can stop hitting me in the face, you know." Isaac said with a laugh, as he turned her around to face him.

"It's not my fault someone has me blindfolded and I can't see." Teagan pointed out, as she rested her hands on his chest.

Isaac laughed at her comment, then said, "Just give me a little longer and you can take it off. I promise."

As she nodded her head at his words, he grabbed her arms slowly leading her across the parking lot and over to the building. As they rode the elevator up to Derek's floor, he noticed how quiet it was and realized Avery must have told everyone to shut up so they could surprise Teagan.

She turned her head toward Isaac, even though she couldn't see him, "Are we there yet?"

"Almost." Isaac answered, as the elevator stopped. He helped her out of it, then reached up to remove the blindfold. He watched her blink a few times, her eyes adjusting to her surroundings as she glanced around, trying to figure out where she was. The hallway looked very familiar to her, but she couldn't place it at first.

Once she realized where she was, she looked over at Isaac with a confused look as she asked, "Why are we at Derek's?"

"Come with me, you'll see." Isaac said, as he held out his hand waiting for her to take it.

With her hand in his, the two walked over to the door. Isaac reached out, grabbing the handle then pulled it open. Teagan jumped in surprise when she saw a room full of people, all glowing cause of the body paint and black lights.

Everyone inside began to cheer as she and Isaac walked further into the room. She couldn't help but smile as Lydia, Allison and Danny walked over to her, all of them hugging her and wishing her a happy birthday.

When she heard Avery's voice, she pulled back to look; seeing her over by the DJ booth, taking into a microphone, as she called out, "Everyone, here is the birthday girl! Let's show her a great time. Get this party going."

Suddenly the music began to play, the bass bumping through the room as everyone began to jump up and down and dance around. Avery worked her way through the crowd, making her way to Teagan, then threw her arms around her for a big hug.

"Happy birthday, T!" Avery called out excitedly. As the two friends continued to hug, she added, "Don't hate me, I know you wanted something low-key, but I couldn't let my best friend have a dull, low-key, seventeenth birthday party. You deserve the best, T. You have always deserved the best."

Teagan shook her head, feeling tears fill her eyes at her words. After seeing what the big surprise was, she was actually glad Avery didn't listen to her. A night of normalcy is exactly what all of them needed.

Hearing her sniff, Avery pulled back to look at her with a concerned look on her face. She reached up to wipe the tears away, as she said, "Please don't cry, T. I know I screwed up your birthday, I'm sor-"

"No. No, you didn't" Teagan interrupted, as she shook her head. She chuckled, as she wiped at her face getting the tears Avery missed, then said, "These are happy tears. I promise. This is perfect, I love it. And I love you, A." She gave Avery another hug and then pulled back to add, "I've missed this… celebrating my birthday with you."

"I missed it too." Avery said smiling. She grabbed one of Teagan's hands, giving it a squeeze, as she said,"Now go mingle, drink and have fun. I don't want you to worry about anything tonight, everything is covered."

As Teagan gave her a nod, she gave her one more hug before she made her way back through the crowd, wanting to make sure there were enough drinks, cups and ice sitting out. Once she checked over everything, she stood on the outside of the crowd watching Teagan laugh and talk to all the different people who approached her.

It had been awhile since any of them were able to just let loose and have fun, and she was happy she was able to give this to her friends.

Avery folded her arms over her chest, as happy as she was that her friends were having a blast, she couldn't shake the bad feeling from the pit of her stomach. She didn't know if it was the darkness inside of her itching to come out or what, but she suddenly felt sick. It was that moment where you felt like something bad was going to happen, but you didn't know what.

She let out of sigh as she rubbed her hands together, the longer she stood there, the more she felt the urge to run. She hated to skip out on her best friend's birthday, but there was no way she could stay any longer. She had to get out of there soon or she feared what she might do.

She watched Isaac kiss Teagan's cheek, before he walked off to grab them more drinks. Not wanting to worry Teagan and ruin her night, she decided to approach Isaac, letting him know she was taking off but not to tell Teagan about it. At least not yet.

"Hey." Avery said, as she stopped beside Isaac, who was standing at one of the tables that were set out with different drinks sitting on them; alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

"Hey!" Isaac called out, as he gave her a nod. He grabbed a bottle of water for himself, being the designated driver so Teagan could drink on her special night; then grabbed a clean cup to make a mix drink for Teagan.

"Looks like you were right." He said over to Avery, before looking over at Teagan, who was laughing along with Lydia and Allison about something. He looked back at Avery, as he continued, "Throwing her a party was a good idea. She's having a great time." A small smile appeared on his face, as he added, "I haven't seen her laugh or smile this much in a while."

Seeing the look on his face, Avery said, "She is always happy with you, Isaac, even if she can't show it at the moment, you do make her happy. It's just the hallucinations screwing with her, but I'm going to fix it."

"How?" Isaac asked, curious. Wondering if she had discovered something that would help, because he honestly had no ideas.

"I don't know yet, but I'll figure it out. I'm not giving up on her and I know you won't either." Avery stated. She glanced over at the brunette in question, watching her dance around with Danny, then looked back at Isaac, "But for now, just make sure she keeps having fun. She needs this."

"I will." Isaac said, with a nod. "Where are you going though?" He asked.

"I'm heading out early." Avery said, as she nodded toward the door.

"Avery Dukate is leaving a party early?" Isaac questioned with a smile, then added seriously, "What's going on, A?"

"I don't know." Avery answered. When he shot her a look, she added, "Honestly, I don't know but I'm not feeling good and I can't stay here."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay? Maybe I should call someone." Isaac suggested, not sure how he felt about her leaving alone.

"I'll be okay." Avery said, reassuring him. "Just take care of my best friend. And don't tell her I left. At least not yet… I know her, she'll worry about me but tonight is not about me. It is all about her, okay?"

"Okay." Isaac said, with a small nod. He still wasn't happy about her leaving, but knew there was nothing he could do to stop her.

He stood still as he watched her walk through the crowd, making her way toward the front door, then he made his way back over to his girlfriend. He chuckled when he saw the way she was dancing around with Danny, from the looks of it, she had a few more drinks while he was gone.

Instead of interrupting her fun, he stood off to the side, away from the crowd, just to watch her having fun with her friends. But no matter where he was standing, no matter how dark the corner was, she still saw him.

As her eyes landed on him, she happily smiled, as she waved at him; trying to get him to join her. When he shook his head, she pouted, then tapped Danny on the shoulders, telling him she would be back.

Isaac was in the middle of taking a sip of his water, when she rushed over to him jumping into his arms, causing him to drop his water and her cup to catch her.

"You made me drop our drinks." He pointed out with a laugh, as he held her tightly against him.

"Oopsy." Teagan giggled, as she wrapped her legs around his waist. The drinks she had already drank were affecting her. She leaned forward to kiss him, then pulled back to say, "That's okay, cause all I want to do right now is kiss you." She gave him another kiss, then added, "And kiss you..." She kissed him all over his face, as she continued, "And kiss you... and kiss you... and kiss you."

Isaac laughed at her antics and laid his hand on the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her hair, as he said,"That's fine, I'm not complaining.. You can kiss me all you want. I would never say no to that."

Teagan grinned at his words as she leaned forward to give him a sweet, gentle kiss. She nibbled on his bottom lip, causing him to groan, as he slipped a hand under the skirt of her dress to rest his hand on her backside.

"Oooh, someone is getting touchy-touchy." Teagan said with a laugh, feeling him squeeze her butt. She rested her hands on the back of his neck as she added in a sing song voice, "And Teagan likey-likey."

Isaac shook his head, laughing at her, as he said,"I've never seen you like this, it's pretty hilarious."

"You've seen me drunk before." Teagan pointed out. When he shook his head to disagree with her, she continued, "Yes you have! Remember Avery's party? The one at her house that I invited you to?"

Isaac thought back, remember exactly what party she was talking about now. It seemed so long ago now, like another life time. He and Teagan were just becoming friends, and he had barely spoken any words to Avery, until she sat with him at lunch and demanded he come to her party. She even threatened him with handcuffs. He couldn't believe how much was different now.

Now his life long crush was in his arms, the two were deeply in love with each other, and the popular blonde who scared him to death when she sat at his table telling him to grab life by the balls; was one of his closest friends.

"I remember." Isaac said, as he smiled at her.

"I was pretty drunk at that party to cause I was so nervous." Teagan admitted, as she ran her fingernails across the back of his neck, turning him on more than he already was.

"Why were you so nervous?" Isaac questioned.

"Cause I wasn't sure if you were coming, and if you did, I had no idea what to say or what to do. I almost couldn't even invite you to it I was so scared." She explained.

"You were scared to talk to me?" Isaac asked, surprised to hear that.

"Yes!" Teagan said, then added, "You gave me the flutters and I didn't know what to do about that, so Avery suggest throwing a party so I could spend some time with you."

"Wait, that party was so you could spend time with me?"

Teagan nodded her head, as she said, "Yep! Even though I was with Jackson, I couldn't stop thinking about you." She ran her fingers through her his hair, gripping the curls, as she continued, "I was starting to feel things for you that I haven't felt in a while, and I just wanted to spend some time with you."

"I never knew that." Isaac said. "I just thought it was a regular Avery Dukate party, and to be honest, I was surprised when I was invited. At first I thought it was some kinda prank or something."

"I would never prank you." Teagan said, as she leaned forward to softly kiss his lips. She pulled back a little, her lips inches from his, as she whispered, "I would never hurt you. Not again."

"Hey, you have never hurt me." Isaac pointed out, as he tangled his fingers in her hair, forcing her to look at him and saw the sad look on her face. "You could never hurt me." He added, before pressing his lips against hers.

He turned around, walking further into the shadows to give them privacy from the other party goers. He stepped closer to the wall, resting her against it as the kiss began to heat up between them.

He wished he could fully get lost in her and do things to her he had been thinking of doing ever since he showed up at her house, but knew going at it in the middle of a party was not the best place. She might be drunk now and didn't care, but he knew things like that made her uncomfortable and would embarrass her.

"Babe, hey, babe, we got to stop. We got to slow down." Isaac breathed out, as he pulled back. He glanced over at the crowd, thankfully no one had noticed them in the corner. He looked back at her, as he added,"We're a little too public right now to be doing this."

"We could go somewhere else then." Teagan suggested. She wanted him badly and wasn't sure how much longer she could wait. She gasp as a location hit her,"Ooh we could go on the balcony and have sex there. I always wanted to have sex on a balcony. Although it would be better if it was raining. Wouldn't it be cool to have sex in the rain on a balcony?"

Isaac laughed at her rambling, then said,"The balcony is a little too public as well. Besides this is your party. You should be with all your friends celebrating."

"I can celebrate with them later. Right now, I want my present." She teased, as she leaned forward to kiss him. She pulled back with a smile on her face, as she added,"The bestest present in the world. You're the best thing in my life, Isaac."

Isaac smiled at her words, then pulled her back toward him, as the two began to kiss again. She cracked her eye open for a moment, seeing someone pass them with glow in the dark paint on their body, causing her to gasp happily as she pulled back, breaking the kiss.

"I know what we can do." She said excitedly.

"What?" Isaac asked, confused.

She pushed back from the wall, as she tapped his shoulder, letting him know she wanted down. Once her feet were back on the floor, she turned around, and called out,"Help me."

"With what?" Isaac asked, wondering what she wanted. She didn't say anything, as she reached back to point at the zipper on her dress. "You want me to unzip your dress?" He asked confused.

"Yes! Unzip it!" Teagan called out.

"Teagan, we're not having sex against this wall or on the balcony." He pointed out.

Teagan clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes, as she said, "That's not what I'm talking about. Just unzip it."

"Okay." Isaac mumbled, not sure what she had planned, but was going to go with it. He reached out to grab the zipper, pulling it down to expose her smooth back.

"Thanks." Teagan said happily, as she turned around to face him. She reached down to grab the bottom of the dress, then pulled it over her head, causing his mouth to drop open in shock; this was very un-Teagan-like behavior.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked, as his eyes roamed over her body, as she stood in front of him in a pair of very short lace shorts and a white bandeau style bra, that was glowing in the black light.

"It's not about what I'm doing. It's about what you're going to do." Teagan said with a smile, as she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to one of the many tables where glow in the dark paint was sitting out.

"Hi! Birthday girl, here! Can I have this?" Teagan asked the girl behind the table, as she reached out to grab a brush. When the woman nodded her head, Teagan turned back to look at Isaac. She handed him the brush, as she said,"You're going to paint me."

"I am?" Isaac questioned, as his eyes checked out her body again. He couldn't stop staring at her.

"Mm-hm." Teagan said with a nod. "Then we're going to drink, then dance, then drink some more, and later, we will be having sex. On the balcony, cause it is my birthday and I say so." She added with a laugh. She wouldn't usually act this way, but once she had a few drinks in her, she was able to loosen up more and not think as much, causing her to do and say things she usually wouldn't while sober.

"Well, you are the birthday girl." Isaac said with a laugh, realizing he couldn't argue with her when she looked at him the way she was now. So happy and carefree, like she didn't have a care in the world. All she wanted was to have a good time with her friends and boyfriend, nothing else mattered.

After Isaac painted different designs on her body, and she painted his face, the two drank more; water for him and liquor for her. She was even able to get him to dance with her a few times, which turned her on even more, as his hands roamed over her body and he held her close.

The night was going exactly like he had hoped. It had been awhile since he had seen her this happy. He just hoped the rest of the night went well, that was his birthday wish for her.

**~()~**

Avery looked in her rearview mirrors before snapping her gaze from side to side, she felt like she'd been followed from the black light party, but there was no proof to back her suspicions.

When the feeling finally got to be too much to take she pulled into the nearest 24 hour gas station and barely shut her car off before leaping out and pulling open the door to her back seat, then also checking in her trunk.

Even though there were no other cars on the road and no one had stowed away in her car each second that passed the uneasy feeling in her stomach grew. Looking around at the dim lighting of the building she breathed a small sigh of relief that they at least had some backup generators.

Racing inside the door she looked at the cashier who was leant over the counter reading a magazine, "Bathroom?" She practically yelled at him. She needed away from people, needed to be in a closed room with her back to the wall so she knew no was sneaking up on her.

The young worker raised his eyes head, his eyes traveling over her barely clothed body as he silently pointed to the back of the small convenience store where the restrooms were located.

Once she was in the women's bathroom she shut and locked the door behind her, the room was just barely illuminated by a few small emergency lights high up on the walls, casting the room in an eerie glow. But that didn't bother her, she'd never been afraid of the dark, for the moment she was just thankful to know she was alone and no one could sneak up on her now.

Leaning her head back against the wall she shivered, for the first time realizing how cold the room was, it felt unnaturally cold. Keeping her eyes closed her mind wandered some as she realized she'd felt this coldness before, the first time was the night that Kate had attacked her, the first time she'd almost died. The room felt that cold, it felt like death.

At that thought her eyes popped open just as the generator lights flickered and burnt out, but not before she saw five large shadowy figures closing in on her.

It was too dark to see, but she knew without a doubt she was surrounded. It wasn't logical, after all she'd locked the door behind her and no one could have come into the room with her. Swinging her arms wildly, she screamed, "Let me out!" As she pushed past the shadowed figures and helplessly beat on the door.

Raising his head from the magazine the worker stared to the back of the small store, as he heard her frantically beating on the door. Grabbing the key to unlock the door from the outside, he started towards the restrooms but stopped when she let out a blood curdling scream.

Realizing he was out of his league here, he took out his cellphone and dialed 911, as he walked outside to wait for help to arrive. After what felt like an eternity, a patrol car pulled into the parking lot.

"Thank god!" He exclaimed as a young officer stepped out of the car.

"You're the one who called in the disturbance?" Deputy Parrish verified as he had his hand on his gun just in case it was some sort of set up, he couldn't tell what it was but something about the situation felt off to him.

He was supposed to have back up on the scene with him, but there were so many calls to the police station that night, Beacon Hill's residents complaining about loud Halloween parties to reports of fireworks being set off, there were even a few home invasion calls. With the blackout it seemed every seedy criminal or teenager up to no good was running rampant.

"Disturbance, are you kidding me?" The guy asked before pointing to the store and said, "This girl… this really hot girl came in and went to the bathroom… then there was all this loud thudding and so much screaming I thought my ears were going to bleed."

Parrish looked around the parking lot, his eyes stopping on the familiar sleek 1965 Mustang and he immediately knew who the cashier was talking about.

Without another word he walked into the gas station and looked around as he spotted the restroom signs he asked, "Are you sure no one else came in?"

Looking around his place of work he admitted, "There were a few teenagers in here earlier tonight buying out the last of the toilet paper… but that was hours ago."

Reaching for the door in front of the deputy he said, "Here, I can unlock it."

Parrish looked at him with a look of disbelief as he asked, "You had a key to get in there the whole time?"

Unlocking the door he avoided the officers eyes as he admitted, "She was screaming… I didn't know what was going on."

With a sigh Deputy Parrish said, "Stay behind me."

Taking his flashlight out he said, "Hello?" as he slowly pushed the door open.

His gaze quickly fell to where Avery was laying sprawled out on the floor, her body twitching and her lips had a slightly bluish tent to them.

"Oh my god!" He exclaimed as he rushed into the room with her, ordering the employee to get a blanket or something.

"Avery! Avery can you hear me?" Parrish asked, he knelt down beside her as he tried to help her sit up some.

Her mouth hung open and small, indescribable sounds kept coming out but he couldn't piece anything she was trying to tell him together.

"What happened?" He asked her as the store employee rushed into the room tearing open the plastic covering of a blanket he'd found in the travel section of the store.

Together they quickly got her wrapped up in the blanket and Parrish sat down the rest of the way on the floor as he pulled her still trembling body against him, trying to both warm her up and let her know that whatever happened she was safe now.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she continued to shudder from both coldness and from the terrifying ordeal she'd just had.

"You're safe now." He quietly said to her, keeping his arms tight around her to hold her still and keep the blanket around her.

"No, I'm not…" She cried, her voice barely loud enough for him to hear as she breathed, "They… they just came out of the darkness."

With a confused expression he looked up to the store employee who shrugged and said, "She was the only one here…" He took a few steps back and leaned against the wall wondering what was happening and feeling guilty that he hadn't got in there to her sooner.

"Who came out of the darkness?" Parrish asked her.

"What." She said through trembling lips and chattering teeth.

Thinking she didn't understand him he repeated, "Who came out of the darkness, Avery?"

"No…" she cried, shaking her head back and forth.

"Should I get another blanket?"

Parrish looked up and shot the gas station employee a look to let him know he'd just asked the dumbest question in the universe.

Mumbling out an apology he raced off towards the travel section to get another blanket.

Reaching a shaky, unnaturally pale hand out from under the blanket she grabbed onto Parrish's sleeve from his police jacket and looked him in the eyes as she stuttered out, "Not who… what…"

Taking the other blanket from the worker, he spread it out and wrapped her up even more as he slowly processed what she said and repeated it back to her, "What came out of the dark?"

Another mascara laced tear dripped down her cheek as she looked up at him, their eyes locked and she answered, "I don't know…"

"What is she talking about?"

Shaking his head at the other man's remark, Parrish said, "Just get the door…" As he lifted her still trembling body up with the blankets wrapped around her and carried her towards the exit. At least his car had heat he could turn on high to help get her warmed up.

After getting her into the passenger seat of his car he looked up to see the store employee coming out with her purse in hand as he handed it to Deputy Parrish and headed back inside.

Getting into the car he pushed her purse up in the dashboard and started the car, turning the heat up all the way, as he looked over at her with a million questions running through his mind. But when he looked over and saw the broken expression on her face, and her still bluish tinted lips he couldn't bring himself to interrogate her any further.

Checking to make sure the vents were pointed at her he stayed silent as he unhooked his radio from his police jacket and slid it off before leaning over and tucking it in around her.

She pinned her eyes shut, thankful for every bit of warmth around her it felt like every single cell in her body had been flash frozen to the point that her skin heating up was also painful, like a million little pin pricks all over her body, all at once.

When the interior lights of the car shut off automatically she gasped and popped her eyes open.

"Hey, hey… you're okay." He said watching her closely as she nodded and leaned back in the seat with her eyes closed again, trying to convince herself that it was okay.

As she took in a shaky breath the scent of his cologne from the jacket filled her nose and she did start to feel more at ease. His scent, as well as his presence was quickly starting to become one of the few things on earth that made her feel safe, even it if was just for a few moments before the thoughts and fears crept back into her mind.

"I think I should radio for an ambulance…" He finally said, when she didn't appear to be getting much of her color back all.

Shaking her head back and forth she said something so soft he couldn't understand her, leaning closer he asked, "What?"

"T… call, T. No hospitals… no ambulance." She pleaded, as she her eyes met his and he asked, "Who's T?"

"My best friend T–Teagan Young…" Avery stuttered out through her chattering teeth and trembling lips.

Her eyes landed on her purse and she started to move the blankets but he stopped her as he said, "I'll call her. Just stay covered up."

Finding her phone in her purse he looked through her contacts until he reached the name he'd been searching for, his forehead lined with confusion as he saw she'd also listed Teagan as her emergency contact, he wondered why she'd listed her friend as one and not her family.

Pushing those questions from his head he looked over at her once more before he selected Teagan's name and placed the phone to his ear.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN – Thank you all for reading!**

**We owe a big thank you to everyone who has added the story to their favorites and/or subscribed for update alerts!**


	16. Call and I'll Come Running

**Chapter 16 - Call and I'll Come Running**

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><p>Some dances later, Teagan was standing off to the side trying to catch her breath while Isaac grabbed more drinks for them; when Allison walked over to her.<p>

"Ally A!" Teagan called out happily, as she hugged the brunette close.

"Hey, T!" Allison said, as she hugged her back, "Having fun?" She asked with a smile, seeing how drunk her friend was.

"I'm having a blast." Teagan said. "Oh! And thank you for my present. I'm wearing it now; see." She said, as she placed her wrist in front of Allison's nose.

"I'm glad you like it." Allison laughed, "I figured it would be a good present for you and Isaac." She added.

"It is! He hasn't stopped sniffing me all night." Teagan stated.

"I asked Scott to casually ask Isaac what his favorite scents were, then picked something close to what he liked and what I thought you would like." Allison admitted.

"Well, you picked out the best one. I love it and I think it is safe to say he does too." Teagan said with laugh. She turned to face her friend, reaching out to grab her hands, as she added, "Thank you, Allison. For everything. For everything you have taught me, for everything you still need to teach me, and for just being a great friend. I don't know what I would do without you."

Allison smiled at her words, as she stepped forward to hug her again. "Thank you for forgiving me and letting me back in your life, Teagan. I truly am sorry for everything." She said.

Teagan shook her head, as she pulled back to look at her, then said, "That is all in the past. I now realize how easy it is to let the voices in your head do something you regret. No matter how strong you are, sometimes you just give in –hoping it goes away, but it never does."

Allison lowered her eyebrows in concern, realizing Teagan was speaking about herself. She grabbed her hands, giving it a squeeze as she asked, "Teagan, what does the voice want you to do?"

Teagan opened her mouth, but before she could say a word, they heard someone cheering out as they called out their names. The two girls looked over to see Stiles making his way over toward them, dancing spastically to the music.

"Stiles!" Teagan called out happily, bouncing back quickly from her talk with Allison. She went over to him, giving him a big hug as he wished her a happy birthday. The two began to do silly dance moves with the music, which is where Isaac found her when he finally made his way back to her after grabbing drinks.

She gave her boyfriend a nod to thank him, then took the cup from his hands, drinking it all in one swallow. When she was done she placed the empty cup in Stiles hand, then grabbed the front of Isaac's shirt, pulling him toward her as she began to move her hips from side to side with the music.

Teagan shot him a shy grin then turned around, rubbing her butt against the front of his pants. He placed his hands on her sides, lightly rubbing his fingertips up and down her skin, giving her goosebumps; which only intensified when he leaned forward to place his lips against her bare shoulder. She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip to keep from moaning out, as he kissed across her shoulder and began to nibble on the side of her neck.

She pulled away and turned around to face him. Shooting him a playful look, as she mouthed the word, "Tease."

He chuckled and leaned forward, placing his lips against her ear as he whispered, "You started it."

She laid her hands on her his chest, grinning up at him, as she ran her hands down to his stomach. She slipped one hand under his shirt, lightly running her fingernails across the skin right above the waistband of his pants, causing him to suck in a shaky breath.

Isaac reached down to grab her hand, if she kept doing that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from taking her right there on the floor in front of everyone. He placed her hands on his shoulders as he shook his head and said, "Okay, you win. No more teasing."

"I like winning." Teagan said, smiling. She ran her hands across his shoulders, laying them against the side of his neck on either side. She began to move them up to mess with his ears, another spot she knew that turned him on. Just because she won, didn't mean she was done teasing him.

She leaned forward to kiss him, then paused when she felt something behind his ear. When he saw her stop and saw the concern look on her face, he asked her what was wrong.

"There's something behind your ear." She stated, as she raised on her tip toes, trying to get a closer look but with all the black lights it was hard to see anything.

"What?" Isaac asked confused, as he reached back to feel what it could be.

"Come on." Teagan said, as she grabbed his hand and pulled him through the crowd to get to the bathroom. Pulling him towards the mirror she turned his head to the side, as she said, "Look, back there. There's something there. Do you see it?"

"Yeah." Isaac mumbled, as he leaned closer to the mirror. "What is it?" He questioned, not getting a good look at it.

"I don't..." Teagan began to say, trying to look at it. Once she finally got a good look at it, she added,"It-It looks like five. Like the number five."

"What does it mean?" Isaac questioned out loud, but neither one had an answer.

Before they could think about it anymore, they heard a cell phone ringing. Realizing it was hers, she stepped closer to Isaac to reach down into his front pants pocket, which is where she had slipped her phone in earlier so she wouldn't lose it.

Seeing that it was Avery's number, she looked over at Isaac with a confused look as she realized it had been awhile since she had seen her blonde best friend.

She placed the phone against her ear, as she said, "A? Is everything okay?"

"Uh, no, this isn't Avery." A male voice said. "Is this Teagan Young?" He questioned.

"Yeah, who the hell is this and why do you have my best friend's phone?" Teagan snapped, as she placed her hand on her hip. She assumed it was some random guy Avery hooked up with and she wasn't sure why he was calling her but if he hurt her best friend, there would be hell to pay.

"This is Deputy Parrish, with the Beacon Hills County Sheriff's Department." He stated.

"Oh, my God." Teagan breathed out, as she laid her hand over her stomach, feeling like the air had been knocked out of her. "Is-Is Avery okay? Is she-please tell me she is okay?" She pleaded over the phone.

"She's going to be okay." Parrish said, as he glanced over at the blonde in the seat beside him. "You should probably come take her home though." He added.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Isaac asked, as he laid his hand on her shoulder, hoping to give her some comfort.

"I'll be right there." Teagan said to Parrish after he told her where he and Avery were.

"What's wrong?" Isaac asked again, as she ended the call.

"It's Avery. Something happened and the cops are there with her." Teagan said, as she turned to leave the room.

Isaac quickly reached out to grab her –stopping her, as he said, "Wait, if there are cops there you shouldn't be around them. You've been drinking."

"I don't care!" Teagan said, then added, "It's Avery, I'm going. Are you coming?"

Isaac sighed, knowing there was no way to stop her from doing anything once Avery was involved. He grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze, as he said, "Let's go get Avery."

**~()~**

Several minutes later, Isaac pulled the car into the gas station. Before he could fully park, Teagan threw the passenger side door open and jumped out –her eyes scanning the parking lot as she looked for her best friend.

She saw a young looking cop step out of his car when he saw her. She wiped her sweating hands on the side of her dress; which she was thankfully able to find before leaving the party. She didn't think showing up at the gas station barely dressed was a good idea.

She was surprised to see it was only one cop on the scene, she had feared there would be way more. She watched the deputy walk over to the passenger side of his patrol car, where Avery was sitting and open the door. He squatted down, to softly speak to her causing Teagan to raise her eyebrows.

She couldn't help but notice how close the two seemed, which was a big surprise to her. Avery wasn't the type who got buddy-buddy with cops or men in general, at least not that fast and not without telling her all about it first.

Teagan couldn't help but feel like she was watching a new romance taking place, or at least that is what she would think if this was the start of some romantic movie but with this being Avery, she had no idea what was really going on between the two.

As Parrish carefully helped Avery out of his car, Teagan rushed over to them, wrapping an arm around Avery's waist and letting her lean on her. She looked over at the deputy, flashing him a small smile of thanks.

Teagan quietly spoke to her best friend, asking if she was okay. She turned her head to look at Isaac, who was making his way over toward the two girls. He wrapped his arm around Avery, then glanced over at Teagan over the blonde's head, letting her know he had her.

He carefully picked her up, carrying her toward the car and sat her down in the backseat, none of them noticing the look on Parrish's face as they walked away. He knew he should leave, she was safe with her friends but there was just something about her that made it hard to leave.

He sat in his car, pretending he was filling out some paper work until the other teens drove off, he finally put his car in drive and pulled out of the parking lot.

The blonde girl he just scooped up off of the floor weighing heavily on his mind.

**~(The next day)~**

"Morning." Avery sleepily said as she walked into her best friend's kitchen.

"Hey, how are you?" Teagan asked concerned as she pulled a box of cereal from the cabinet and turned to face her.

"I'm okay… how about you?" Avery responded as she grabbed two bowls from the cabinet and spoons from the drawer.

"Better than I thought." She admitted with a small laugh then her face grew serious as she said, "I think with what happened last night it sobered me up a lot before I even went to sleep."

"But… you're still hung over?" Avery asked holding back a laugh.

Teagan held up her thumb and finger to symbolize she was a little hung over and admitted she'd already taken something for her headache.

As the girls sat down at the table together Avery asked, "Where's Isaac and your dad?"

"Dad's at work, the blackout really put his cases behind, having to do all the paperwork by hand. And Scott called Isaac not too long before you woke up, so he headed over there." She explained as she filled her bowl with cereal and poured some milk in over it.

Avery reached behind her ear and started to rub her finger over the black backwards 5 that had appeared the prior night.

Teagan frowned, "Avery I'm sorry, I should have…"

Avery waved her hand silencing her friend, "It's okay, it's not like you had time to really tell me about how those… things came after Isaac. And even if you had, who the hell thought they'd come after me too?"

The night before Teagan kept apologizing for how she should have warned her that something had happened to her and Isaac the night of the blackout. Allison's father had asked them to keep it quiet for 24 hours, plus the girls hadn't spoken much since the attack.

Ignoring the need to keep apologizing to her, a small smile spread of her lips as Teagan asked, "So… this officer Parrish…"

Not even pausing Avery corrected, "Deputy Parrish."

With raised brows Teagan said, "He's the same one who drove past the school wasn't he? I saw you guys looking at each other."

She watched as her friend avoided her eyes and continued to eat her breakfast in silence.

"I for one, thought it was really sweet how he stayed with you until we got there."

With a small sigh Avery snapped her gaze to her friend and responded, "Jordan was just doing his job, there is nothing sweet about that."

"Jordan?" Teagan gasped not able to hide the smile on her own lips.

Avery's eyes widened in realization that his first name had slipped out, not understanding what was happening she put her hand over her mouth, causing Teagan to forget about her splitting headache as she laughed.

"Tell me everything!" Teagan urged.

"There is nothing to tell." Avery defended, but her best friend saw the smile that spread over her lips.

"Avery! I know you better than anyone else. Stop lying."

"I'm really not lying. He pulled me over one night and I expertly avoided getting a ticket." She said, trying to push the internal smile from her thoughts.

"And that involved finding out his first name?" Teagan asked, so absorbed in the conversation she didn't realize the cereal was all gone from her bowl as she kept taking spoonful's of milk.

Grabbing the box and pouring more into her friends bowl, Avery accidentally let slip, "No, T… I found that out at Pammy's the next day."

When the brunette's jaw dropped Avery quickly stammered out, "He came by my house because he accidentally kept my real ID and gave me my over 21 one back."

"Oh… my god! This is serious, you took him to Pammy's Pancake Palace!" Teagan almost shouted pointing an accusing finger at her best friend.

"You're over-reacting, I think you're still drunk." Avery shrugged, trying to pretend like it wasn't a big deal. But her best friend knew she'd never taken a guy to her favorite breakfast place before.

"I'm not drunk, I'm just shocked."

Slowly turning her head Avery knew what her friend was thinking, "Jesus, Teagan… get the sounds of wedding bells out of your head. It's not like that, I mean yeah… he's hot, but that's it, I don't like him."

Teagan's voice was quiet as she said, "Okay, forget the deputy then, but you know, A. Just because things didn't work out with Derek or Stiles, doesn't mean that nothing ever will work out."

Standing up Avery said, "This isn't about Derek, okay? This is about how I've learned that relationships are too much work and I just don't think I want that ever again. Maybe it's just not written in the stars for me, you know; the big house and white picket fence… 2.5 kids and a dog. I don't like feeling tied down and we both know I'll never have a normal life, even if I tried too."

Teagan slowly nodded, losing her appetite to finish the rest of her food. She wanted to tell Avery that she was wrong, and that she was sure one day, even if it was years into the future that Avery would find that one guy who would change everything, be exactly what she needed. But she also knew the more she pushed the more she'd shut down.

Standing up she grabbed her bowl and headed for the sink where Avery was standing.

As she watched Teagan rinse both of their bowls out, Avery lightheartedly said, "Besides, I'll never be this young and this hot again… so while you're settled down with Isaac, I'll be out there –living it up for the both of us."

Teagan let out a small laugh as she shook her head and said, "It's not like that, things are comfortable with Isaac… but it's not boring."

"Of course it's not… especially not after what I got you for your birthday."

Teagan's eyes widened as she looked up and Avery winked at her before turning on her heels to head for the door.

"Yeah, I'm still waiting on my real gift, by the way." Teagan said as the girls got into her car, so Teagan could take Avery back to the gas station where she'd left her car.

Glancing behind their seats she saw the gift bag sitting in the back floorboard and said, "This was your real gift, T."

Holding up the empty container package where the glow in the dark erotic dice were supposed to be; Avery asked, "Already gave the dice a try… huh?"

With slightly flushed cheeks Teagan quickly explained, "Isaac opened those!"

Laughing the blonde dropped the container back in the bag and said, "Trust me, you'll both thank me later."

**~()~**

Richard walked down the stairs with the recycle bin full of empty glass bottles, with every step he took the alcohol bottles clanked together.

Hearing the door open he breathed a small sigh of relief thinking it was Avery, but when he looked up he saw someone he wasn't sure he'd ever see again; Derek.

"Derek…" He greeted with a confused expression as he stepped off the last step.

Derek nodded a greeting and asked, "Is she upstairs?"

With a bitter laugh Avery's dad responded, "Ha, if she was I couldn't have dragged these out from under her bed."

Derek's eyebrows lowered in confusion at the sight before he slowly pushed the door open for him to carry the bin outside.

"Those are all from her room?" He asked, not able to hide his shocked expression.

Standing back up and dusting his hands off, Richard looked at him with a defeated expression as he admitted, "She's… not really been herself lately."

"Uh, I'll come back later." Derek said as he turned, and started to leave. He had to find Avery to warn her about the shadowy masked beasts that had attacked him and Scott's pack the prior night.

Richard scoffed and shook his head.

Looking over his shoulder Derek asked, "What?"

Looking down to the floor he shook his head before finally answering, "I know she's not your responsibility, and I know you've got you're… werewolf stuff going on. But…"

His voice trailed off he waved his hand trying to dismiss the conversation, as he muttered, "Well, it was good seeing you, Derek."

Following him back into the house Derek pushed, "You obviously have something else you want to say…"

Richard looked up from the desk in his office to where Derek was now standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I know what's happening to her isn't your fault, god knows if I knew how to be a semi-decent father, she wouldn't be in this mess. But you can't just walk in and out of her life like this. We both know she doesn't tell me much but she said you came to a mutual agreement, that you guys decided this… thing you had between you wasn't healthy."

"We did… I only stopped by to check on her." Derek admitted.

Sitting down in his leather office computer chair, he rubbed his hands over his tired face as he explained, "The Avery I'm dealing with now is what I was dealing with up until she met you. Binge drinking, the late nights… sometimes I wouldn't see her for weeks and when she did come home, I never saw her walk through that door with the same guy twice. She was out of control and the more I tried to discipline her, the farther away she pulled and worse everything got."

Derek opened his mouth to say something but her dad cut him off, "I'm not sure if it was being with you, or Teagan moving back… or a combination of it all. But I was never as proud of her as I was this past year. And now… I don't even know her anymore.

Derek was silent as he tried to picture her like that –he'd known when they'd gotten together that she had a past she wasn't proud of. That's why she'd been so apprehensive to sleep with him, because so many other guys had only used her for sex.

But he'd only witnessed her trying and succeeding to put her life back on track.

"You're saying I shouldn't let her know I'm back?" Derek asked, wondering if his presence would make things harder on her.

"I can't tell you what to do, Derek. I can't even tell my own daughter what to do but what I can say is that she can't get better… she can't heal, if you're going to coming in and out of her life."

Seeing the pained expression on his face, Avery's dad quickly explained, "I like you Derek, always have and always will. But I'm trying to watch out for her right now, and when you're around you're what she's concerned about and not herself. She will always put you first and she can't move on because she feels so bound to you…"

"She said that?" Derek cut in, not able to stomach much more.

"She didn't have to." Richard breathed.

With a nod he tried to assure him, "I didn't come back to mess things up for her… actually my reasons for coming back to Beacon Hills don't have anything to do with her."

Shutting his laptop, Richard looked at him and nodded.

As he turned to leave Derek stopped and looked back to Avery's dad as he quietly asked "Are things really that bad with her?"

Pausing Richard looking at him with a hopeless expression, the same lost look he'd seen on Avery's face many times, "I'm not just scared for her… I'm scared of her."

**~()~**

After arriving at school Teagan walked down the hallway; heading for her locker as she sent Isaac a text, wondering if he was at school yet. She hadn't spoken to him since he left her house earlier after Scott called him.

She turned a corner then paused when she saw Scott and Stiles walking down the hall toward her in a deep conversation, neither one noticing her. Wondering what was going on and wanting to ask Scott were Isaac was, she called out their names and made her way down the hall, meeting up with them.

She was even more confused when neither one looked at her, instead the two walked into the Chemistry classroom. She had no idea what was going on but judging from the look on Stiles face before they went in he was freaked out about something. Curious to know what was going on with her friends, she rushed into the classroom after them.

Teagan walked over to stand beside Scott; who was staring at Stiles as he faced the blackboard, staring at it.

"It's gone." Stiles mumbled out, making Teagan and Scott look at each other in confusion.

"What's gone?" Teagan asked.

Stiles turned around seeing her for the first time then walked past her and Scott to go to the locked door where all the chemicals were.

"Okay, it doesn't matter though. It doesn't matter. I've still got the key." He said, as he hands shook while he looked through all the keys on his key ring. When he didn't see the key to the door, he mumbled out, "What the hell? I had it- I had it here. I had it here this morning." He looked over at Teagan and Scott, a confused look on his face as he said, "I swear to God, I had it this morning."

"It's okay, Stiles. We believe you." Teagan said, as she took a step toward him. "But-But maybe it was a hallucination. Your mind playing tricks or something." She suggested. She wasn't completely sure what was going on, what he thought he saw and it wasn't that she didn't believe him. But she knew how real a nightmare and hallucination could feel. After some of the things she saw, it took her a while to convince herself it wasn't true and she still had problems telling the difference sometimes.

"No, I had it this morning!" Stiles called out, as he took a step back from her. His hands shook more as he went through his keys again; he knew it was there, it just had to be.

Teagan glanced back to look at Scott, as he spoke up and asked, "The key you were talking about last night?"

Stiles looked up at him with a hopeful look. Iif he remembered the key, maybe that meant he remembered seeing it, he could prove he wasn't crazy.

"Yeah, I showed it to you, right? Didn't I show it to you?" Stiles questioned his best friend, Scott.

"No, you just told me about it. I never actually saw it." Scott said, seeing Stiles' face fall and wished he had seen it. He hated seeing his friend so frantic.

Stiles looked over at Teagan as he asked, "Did I mention anything about a key to you last night? Did I show you anything?"

"No, sorry." Teagan said, as she shook her head. "We just talked for a little bit and danced some. You never mentioned anything about a key." She looked at both boys, as she added, "What key is it?"

Stiles pointed over to the locked door as he said, "It's the key to that door, where all the chemicals are and I had it." He turned back to the blackboard as he continued, "I was here a couple of hours ago. And the message left to Barrow spelling Kira's name was right there on the board in my handwriting and I had the key to the chemistry closet."

"So you unlocked the chemistry closet so Barrow could hide in it from the cops and then you wrote him a message to kill Kira?" Scott questioned, making sure he was really understanding what he was trying to say.

"I know how it sounds." Stiles began to say, until Teagan spoke up.

"We know how it sounds too." She said, as she shook her head, "But whatever you think you did, Stiles… you couldn't have. You wouldn't do something like this. You wouldn't leave messages for some psycho to murder innocent people." She took a few steps toward him, reaching out to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, as she continued, "You couldn't do this, Stiles. This isn't you."

Stiles shook his head as he shrugged her hand off and dug into his front pants pocket, bringing out a piece of folded up paper. "But look at this." He said out to both of them as he unfolded the piece of paper, Scott walked over to them –standing on the other side of Stiles.

Stiles handed Scott the piece of paper, as he added,"This is the news report that came out about Barrow when they caught him, okay? About the shrapnel bomb that he used." He pointed to the paper, as he continued, "See this? See what he did? He used nuts, bolts and screws and then he hid the bomb and the detonator in a box that he wrapped as a birthday present. What does that sound like to you?"

"Coach." Scott said, as he passed the piece of paper to Teagan for her to read.

"The joke we played on Coach. That was my idea." Stiles said, as he nodded his head and getting more agitated as everything started clicking together and making sense in his mind. "You remember? That was my idea. That's no coincidence. It can't be." He added.

"I don't want to sound like I'm trying to tell you that you're wrong. But I don't think you're trying to kill people either." Scott carefully said, not wanting to upset him more.

"Stiles..." Teagan calmly said, planning to tell him she agreed with Scott, hoping the both of them could talk him down before he had a panic attack or some kind of break down.

Stiles ignored them both as he looked back at the board, and said, "It was here. It was all here."

"Dude, are you feeling okay? You're looking really tired." Scott pointed out, for the first time really looking at his best friend. He had seen that same tired, scared look somewhere else before. It was the same look on Avery's face, as well as Teagan's lately.

As that thought crossed his mind, he turned his head to look at Teagan, seeing her looking at Stiles with a concerned look on her face and knew she saw it.

It was almost like looking in mirror for her, she could tell Stiles was being plagued with realistic nightmares and horrible hallucinations too.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just haven't been sleeping really." Stiles stated, as he glanced down, messing with his hands.

"Why don't you go home? Take a sick day or something." Scott suggested.

Stiles shook his head, he didn't need a sick day –he needed to figure this out, before it drove him crazy but before he could argue, Teagan reached out to lay her hands on his, trying to stop them from shaking.

As he turned his head to the side to look at her, seeing the look she was giving him as she softly said, "Hey, it's okay. I get it, I do. I know how it feels not being able to tell what is real or what is just a bad dream. I know how it is to have the voices in your head telling you to do things you would never dream of doing." She gave his hands a friendly squeeze, as she continued, "But one thing I do know, is that this isn't you. You could never hurt anyone, not like that."

"She's right." Scott said, agreeing with Teagan. "But whatever is going on, we'll figure out."

Stiles looked at Teagan, then over at Scott, as he finally nodded his head, then quietly said, "I think I will take that sick day."

"Good." Teagan said, then added, "Do you want one of us to go with you?"

"No, I'll be okay." Stiles said. He looked at them again, flashing them a small smile as he mumbled out a thanks.

Teagan and Scott stood side by side, as they watched Stiles make his way out of the class room with a worried look on their faces. Once he was gone, the two turned to look at each other, both replaying the conversation with Stiles in their heads, trying to make sense of it. But all they did know was, there was no way Stiles could have been involved.

Both feeling at loss about what to say, Scott gave her a nod, planning to leave the room until an earlier thought hit her and she reached out to grab his arm to stop him.

"Wait, where's Isaac?" She questioned. She still had not seen him or heard from him.

"He's at the Argents." Scott stated.

"What? Why?" Teagan asked. "Is that why you called him this morning?"

Scott nodded, as he said, "Yeah, Allison had called. Something was going on with her dad, so I called Isaac for help."

"Why didn't he just tell me that?" Teagan questioned, then added, "Whatever is going on Avery and I could have helped too."

"I asked him not to say anything yet." Scott stated. When she shot him a look, he quickly explained, "I know you and Avery can handle yourselves but after what happened last night, I thought maybe it would be best to wait until we knew more before we involved anyone else. It might not have been a smart idea, but I'm just trying to look out for you two. I don't want anyone else getting hurt." In his opinion they were part of his pack, and as alpha, he had to make the tough decisions sometimes to protect his pack.

Teagan nodded her head in understanding, she didn't like being left out of the loop but after Avery and some of the others were attacked the night before at her birthday party; after she and Isaac left, she could understand why Scott was a little hesitant to involve more of them right away.

"So what do we know so far?" She questioned, wondering what he learned while at the Argents.

He quickly filled her in, telling her about the arms deal Chris went on years ago. The demon warriors; who attacked Isaac, Avery and the rest at the birthday party had showed up and Chris was able to shoot one in the face, shattering its mask and saving a man named Katashi. Now Chris had a plan to talk to Katashi, hoping to find out more about the demon warriors but his first plan failed.

"So what's the plan now?" Teagan questioned.

"I'm not completely sure. Stiles texted me so I had to leave to meet him here and you know the rest." Scott answered. "Isaac stayed behind to help."

Whe saw the worried look on her face, he added, "Hey, you know Allison or Chris wouldn't put him in any kind of danger."

"I know." Teagan said with a quiet sigh as she ran a hand through her hair. "I would just feel better if I was there or if he called at least." She added.

As if on cue, she heard her cell phone going off and glanced down at the caller id, seeing that it was Isaac calling her. She showed Scott her phone, then told him she would talk to him later as she made her way out the room and answered the call.

"Hey, babe, I'm sorry I haven't called you back sooner." Isaac said, as soon as she answered.

"It's okay, Scott told me." Teagan said, cutting him off.

He sighed, worried she would be mad at him for keeping her in the dark, then quickly began to explain, "I would have told you, but with what happened with Avery last night, I thought you would want to stay with her and I didn't want to worry you-"

"Isaac, hey, it's okay. I get it." Teagan said with a small chuckle, as he breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I just don't want you to think I'm trying to keep things from you. We always have to be honest with each other, right?" He stated. He knew she wasn't always telling him everything when she had a nightmare or hallucination. He knew she felt like she was only protecting him but he couldn't help her if he didn't know exactly what they were up against.

"So what's the plan now?" Teagan questioned to change the subject. Now was not the time to talk about the crazy voices and thoughts in her head. They needed to find out what those shadow demons were, what they wanted and why they were going after them.

Isaac softly sighed at her ignoring his question, then said, "Chris has this idea about drawing Katashi out with a gun deal."

"Where's the deal taking place at?" Teagan asked, as she began to walk down the hallway, heading for the parking lot. There was no way she could stay at school while this was going down.

"I'm not sure, but I'll text you the address." Isaac stated. He had a feeling once she heard the plan she would want to tag along.

"I'll see you soon." Teagan said back, as she pushed the door open and rushed outside to her car.

**~()~**

Avery pulled onto her street with a small smile on her lips, the entire way home she'd thought about Deputy Parrish and the way being around him made her feel safe. A welcome feeling that was rare these days.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the familiar car parked across the street from her house. In fact, nothing seemed out of the ordinary until she was just a few steps away from her front door when it opened.

Raising her head she came to a dead stop as she saw who was walking out. Hearing another heartbeat Derek turned around after pulling the door shut and looked at Avery with an apologetic expression.

He'd meant to be gone before she got home.

"When did you come back?" She asked, her voice barely over a whisper as all traces of her former giddiness vanished.

"Uh, yesterday." He admitted then raised his eyebrows as he pointed out, "Came home to a raging black light party at my loft last night."

"Oh…" she breathed as she lowered her head not sure what to say or even think. He was the last person she expected to be there when she got home.

They stood in silence until she slowly walked towards the door and said, "You can come in."

Silently he followed her inside and into the front living room as she sat her purse down on the coffee table and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I just came by to check on you… and warn you, there were these shadowed figures with masks… and glowing greenish-yellow eyes…" He started to explain but the saw the color drain from her face as she instinctively reached behind her ear to the symbol now printed on her skin.

"They got you too?" He realized, taking a step forward.

She nodded and turned her head as she started to say, "They left this mark on me…"

"I've got one too." He admitted then asked with genuine concern, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Parrish showed up." She quickly answered not wanting to make him worry about her.

Cocking his head to the side he asked, "Who's Parrish?"

Her eyes widened as she stared down to the floor but he heard her heart pick up speed as she answered, "One of the sheriff's deputy's… I got attacked at a gas station and the guy working there called 911."

His gaze also fell to the floor, knowing there had to be more to the story than what she was letting on; her heart hadn't picked up speed for no reason.

Wanting out of there he said, "I should get going, I just came to check on you… and tell you that I'm not here to screw things up for you."

Her eyebrows pushed together as she quietly admitted, "I tried to call you… not too long after you left."

He stopped and looked over his shoulder as he answered, "I know… I got your message."

A bolt of pain shot through her as she said, "Then why didn't you call me back?"

Taking a deep breath he looked back in front of him, out the doorway of the room and tried not to feel her emotions in the air as he explained, "You said before that you want to be the center of someone's world and it will never be like with me, something else… anger, revenge, guilt… something else will always come first. You deserve to be happy –to be with someone who can give you everything you deserve, but that person isn't me."

She let out a shaky breath and her voice cracked as she questioned, "Then why did you come back?"

Swallowing hard he knew his words would sting her, but they were the truth, "I didn't come back for you."

He heard her let out a breath as if his words had physically hit her but he couldn't turn around. Instead he left the room and headed to the front door without even a glance back at her.

Picking up her purse she slowly walked up the stairs to her room, before collapsing on her bare mattress.

Tears fell from her eyes and seeped into the pillow under her head as she wished she had a blanket to cover up with, but they were all across the room in her closet and she didn't have the energy to get up. She'd stopped making her bed over a week ago after coming home several times so drunk she'd puked all over her sheets, and got tired of constantly remaking the bed.

So she'd given up on trying to keep her room presentable; symbolic –she though, that a simple act of not making her bed actually stood for so much more. That in many aspects, she'd given up on everything.

* * *

><p>~ <em>A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks so much for reading!**

**If you're not already, you should be following Miss E Charlotte on Tumblr! She posts Blue Moon Series related content all the time and even does chapter preview snippets when there is a few days between updates. ^_^**


	17. A Demonic Ninja Problem

**Chapter 17 - A Demonic Ninja Problem**

* * *

><p>Several minutes later, Teagan parked her car in front of the Argent's SUV and stepped out seeing Chris and Allison standing by the front of the car looking at the blueprints for Katashi's house, but didn't see Isaac at the moment.<p>

Teagan opened her mouth, planning to ask where he was, until he walked around from the back of the car looking extremely nervous in a suit and tie . Her mouth dropped open in surprise at seeing how he was dressed. She couldn't stop herself from checking him out, her eyes roaming over his body as a bunch of dirty thoughts filled her mind.

Allison, seeing the look on her face, cleared her throat then bumped her shoulder against Teagan's, pulling her out of her thoughts and bringing her back to the present.

"Guys. This isn't going to work. I look ridiculous. I mean I look like I just stepped out of the last period of a Catholic prep school." Isaac complained, as he walked closer to them. His eyes went over to Teagan, seeing her for the first time and noticing the look she was giving him; he knew exactly what that look was.

He glanced down at suit he was wearing, then looked back at her with raised eyebrows as if to say, 'really?' He never knew a suit and tie was a turn on for her.

Seeing her gave him some confidence but as he remembered everything Chris told him earlier; the things he needed to memorize and remembered, he could feel his confidence slipping. He looked down at the sheet of paper in his hand as he said, "There is no way that I'm going be able to remember all this. I mean, what does this even mean? 'Revolving over and under barrels'?"

Teagan and the two Argents all looked at each other, the two teen girls trying not to laugh as Chris looked back at Isaac and said, "All you have to do is keep them talking long enough to allow us to get inside and find Katashi. He may not be there for the buy in person but he won't be far."

"You look great, babe." Teagan said, as she reached out to grab his hand.

He locked eyes with Teagan, for a moment forgetting the other two were there and tried to draw strength from her. She could always calm him and even now she was but he was still scared of failing. If he screwed up, just made one little mistake he would be putting them all in danger. That thought made him latch on to her hand, too scared to let go.

"I am sweating, all the way through my jacket. I didn't even know that I could sweat this much." He nervously rambled, as he squeezed her hand.

"Oh boy, he is really freaking out." Allison breathed out, stating the obvious as she glanced over at Teagan. She felt like he could do it, he just needed to believe in himself more and she knew no one could get through to him better than his girlfriend. If anyone was going to give him confidence to do it, it was Teagan.

"I got it. Give me a second." Teagan said over at Allison, as she pulled on Isaac's hand wanting him to follow her.

While Chris and Allison went back to look at the blueprints, Teagan and Isaac went to the back of the car; giving themselves some privacy. At first, Teagan didn't say a word, as she placed her hands on either side of his face, then raised up on her tip toes, pressing her lips against his for a gentle kiss.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, then laid his hand on the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her hair as he deepened the kiss putting all of his jittery nerves into the kiss, until he had to pull back to rest his forehead against hers to catch his breath.

She removed her hands from his face, placing them on his chest, then ran her hands down grabbing the bottom of the dress shirt he was wearing before tucking it into the waistband of his black pants.

She pulled back a little, keeping her eyes locked on his as she softly said, "You can do this, Isaac. There is nothing that I believe in more than you. I know you are nervous but I have so much faith in you and I know you can do this. I know you will not fail."

She laid a hand on the side of his face again, as she added, "You're going to walk in there, not as a scared boy, but as a strong, confident man. Be the man I know you can be, be the man that I love with all my heart."

He wanted to believe her, he wanted to believe he could do this but the more he thought about it, the more he felt like he was going to fail.

He opened his mouth to argue but before he could say a word, she pressed her lips against his again, running her fingers through his hair as she put everything she had into that kiss, everything she was feeling, all the love and faith she has in him –all of that was in the kiss.

Teagan grinned against his lips when she felt him run a hand down her back, stopping when he got to her butt and gave it a squeeze.

She pulled back, smiling at him, as she asked, "How do you feel now?"

"I feel like I want to throw you in the back seat and just forget all about this plan." Isaac teased, then added, "I saw the way you were checking me out earlier. I have a feeling it won't take much to talk you into it."

Teagan chuckled as she turned around for a moment, grabbing a pair of sunglasses from the back of the car and then turned back around to face him. She placed the sunglasses on his face, covering his eyes, as she said, "We should probably hold off on the sex right now, but keep the suit for later."

"I can do that." Isaac said with a grin, as he reached into the car and grabbed the bag he would need. He had all the confidence in the world now to walk in there and make the plan happen.

"I'm going to guess that you're going in too." He stated, assuming she was going to help Allison and Chris. As she nodded her head, he leaned forward to give her a quick kiss then pulled back a little, to whisper, "Be careful."

"I will." Teagan promised, then continued, "I'll be with two very well trained hunters and not to mention someone keeps telling me that I'm a badass." She smiled at him, then said, "So I think I'll be okay."

"You are a badass." He assured her. "But I still need you to come back to me, safe and sound." He added, as he lightly caressed her cheek.

Teagan nodded her head, telling him that she will and gave him one last kiss, as she whispered, "I need you to do the same. Come back to me."

"It's you and me, always." He stated, speaking their mantra, giving them both that extra added confidence.

"It's you and me." She whispered back, giving him a smile.

He smiled back, then without another word turned and began to walked toward the building, planning to get the fake deal going so the other three could sneak in and find Katashi.

**~()~**

Avery walked out of the school after gathering her missed assignments for the day, she'd showed up just as school was letting out.

As she neared her car, fully intending to head home and crawl back into her bed after the painful encounter she'd had with Derek earlier that day, she saw the twins standing next to their bikes; faces twisted with anger nearing rage.

Smirking at them she opened her car door and tossed her bag into the back seat.

Seeing them watching her she laughed as she said, "What's wrong, boys? Engine trouble?"

Ethan angrily gritted his teeth at her as Aiden loudly mocked her laughter and said, "Yeah, keep laughing… but it's not gonna be so funny when Scott's dead, will it?"

Rolling her eyes Avery asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The ninjas." Ethan spoke up.

"Ninjas?" Avery asked with raised eyebrows.

"Demonic ninjas." Aiden nodded.

She crossed her arms and stifled a laugh as they walked over to her and she repeated their own words back to them, "Demonic ninjas? Seriously… what the hell is that? Some kind of freaking twin delusion thing?"

Sighing heavily Ethan explained about how they'd been attacked at the party the night before and when the sun came up the ninjas were looking right at Scott.

"These ninjas as you call them… did they have shadowy black smoke around them and masks?" She asked, feeling her heart start to race.

Both of them immediately picking up on her change of attitude and racing heart as Aiden nodded, "With greenish-yellow eyes. And they're after Scott. He did something to our bikes to keep us from following him."

Sighing she pulled the hairband off her wrist as she pulled her long, light blonde hair up in a ponytail and said, "I'll look at them."

The brothers exchanged looks as she walked over and started to move the cover to the compartment where the engine was.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" Ethan asked, with a look of disbelief.

Raising her head she shot him a look as she narrowed her eyes and snapped, "Would I be wasting my time with this if I didn't know anything about motorcycles? No dumbass, I wouldn't."

He opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off, "Looks like he took the spark plugs… my guess is if we looked the other bike is the same."

With a sigh she shrugged, "It's a simple fix."

They followed her as she walked over to her car, realizing what they were doing she spun on her heels and asked, "What are you doing?"

"We're trying to save Scott." One of them answered.

"No you're not, you're trying to win your way into his pack and that's not going to happen. I can take care of this myself." She argued.

Crossing his arms over his chest Aiden pointed out, "You're not the least bit angry that he didn't even tell you he's the next target of these ninjas?"

He smirked as he saw a flash of anger in her light brown eyes and Ethan glanced over at his brother with a disapproving look.

"It doesn't matter if he did or didn't tell me. Either way, I'm going to go help him… not because I'm part of his pack but because I'm his friend." She said, pushing her anger to the side and trying to focus on what was important at the moment.

"Then we're coming with you." He said, as he reached for her passenger door but she snapped and slapped his hands away from her car, "Absolutely not!"

"I get that you don't like us, okay? You've made it abundantly clear, but these ninjas… they literally pulled swords out of their chests. You need us for backup." Ethan reasoned as his eyes pleaded for her to cooperate.

"What is it with you two and calling those things ninjas?" she asked, shaking her head back and forth.

"What would you call them?"

She didn't even pay attention to who'd asked the question as she shrugged, "Demons…"

"Demon ninjas." Both brothers responded at the same time.

Closing her eyes and sighing at them she asked, "Which one of you is Ethan?"

He raised his hand.

"Ah, good, okay… you're up front with me. You're evil counterpart, in the backseat." She directed as she opened her car door and got in.

Aiden looked at Ethan as he stifled a laugh and said, "You heard her, get in the back."

"Shut up." Aiden hissed as he opened the door and got into the backseat.

A while later she parked the car in front of her house and said, "I need to get a weapon… I had to take the ones out of my car in case it got impounded or something." She admitted.

Following her towards the door of her house, Ethan questioned, "Why would the police impound your car?"

"Street racing." She simply responded as she unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Hearing the door open her dad came into the front hallway coming to an abrupt stop as he saw his daughter heading towards the stairs with a pair of twins behind her that easily towered over her both in mass and height.

"Uhh…" He stuttered out, his voice almost cracking from shock.

"Hey dad." She greeted as she took another step up towards her room.

The twins looked at him, one offering a smile and the other looked beyond annoyed.

"Oh my god, Avery wait… just stop." Richard said as he dropped the file folder he'd had in his hands to the floor and started towards them.

Looking to the now scattered mess of papers she pushed past the boys to get off the stairs as she questioned, "What's wrong?"

"Can we talk… in the kitchen." He asked, looking past her and eyeing the brothers.

"I don't have time." Avery asserted, showing her irritation with every syllable.

"That may have sounded like a question, but I wasn't really asking. We need to talk." He said, cringing as he thought she'd start yelling at him for telling her what to do.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dad. You must have misunderstood my response, I do not have time." She smugly responded as she started to turn around but he said, "I think you do."

She looked at him shocked, not understanding what was so important that he couldn't wait until she was home later that night.

He stared between the twins and then back to his daughter with slightly widened eyes as he thought that her encounter with Derek earlier that morning had really set her off, and now she was bringing guys home in the middle of the day.

"If you don't come to the other room with me, I'm going to say it right in front of them." He finally said crossing his arms over his chest.

Matching his posture to an art and moving her neck with attitude as she spoke she said, "Go ahead, I don't really care."

The brothers exchanged looks wondering what was going on and both of them also aware that they only had until the sun started to set to get to Scott before the demons descended on him; no one had time for Avery's family problems.

"I know you've had a rough few months, Avery. But this…" He breathed motioning to the brothers on the stairs as he continued in an exasperated voice, "It's bad enough when you come stumbling home in the middle of the night with some guy but coming home in the middle of the day with two guys!"

She took a step back at his raised voice and started to snap at him but then when she realized what he was thinking she broke out into a fit of laughter, causing both the twins to crack a smile too.

"Oh my god… you thought?" Avery spoke in a broken sentence as she tried to control her laughing.

"This isn't funny." Richard asserted, growing angrier by the moment at her not taking the situation seriously.

"Yeah, it honestly is…" Avery said as she motioned to Ethan and said, "He's gay."

As Richard looked at the brother she'd pointed to Ethan gave him an amused smile.

Then pausing for dramatic effect she pointed to Aiden and added, "And this one I hate, I wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole."

As her dad diverted his attention to Aiden, he raised his hand and gave a small wave.

Another fit of laughter hit her as she clarified farther, "This is totally not some kind of freaky sex thing… we just have a ninja problem we need to solve before dark."

"A what…" Richard breathed out under his breath as Avery turned and walked up the stairs, still shaking her head and laughing.

Ethan followed her, but Aiden lingered for a few moments longer as he said, "A demonic ninja problem."

Avery's dad's confused expression grew but he shook his head and said, "I'm… just going to be in my office…"

**~()~**

After showing Teagan the blueprints, filling her in on the whole plan and giving her weapons, the three made their way toward the building. Chris found a secret side door, one that most people would have never seen. He picked the lock, then went inside with Allison and Teagan following along behind him.

They could faintly hear Isaac talking to some of Katashi's henchmen at the front of the building. He was telling them the story of the gun, trying to stall and give them more time to find Katashi.

Chris glanced behind him at the two teenage girls, he moved his hands around, giving them different signals to explain what the plan was without them having to say a word. After the two girls nodded their heads in understanding, he turned and went down the hall checking that side of the building as the two girls continued in the same direction they started in. They quietly approached a room, seeing two gunned men guarding it. Allison took one guy, while Teagan went after the other one.

Teagan walked up behind him quickly ducking when he spun around to hit her. She stood back up, punching him in the side then kicked at the back of his knee, knocking him down. She gave him a punch across the face to knock him completely down to the floor, which also knocked him out cold.

She glanced over at Allison, seeing that she had knocked her guy out too and flashed her a smile, which she returned. Allison nodded her head to the side, telling Teagan to follow her but before Teagan could take a step she heard a noise coming from behind her and quickly turned around, not seeing anyone.

"Teagan." Allison quietly whispered, getting her attention. She nodded her head again in the direction they needed to go in, as she mouth the words, "Let's go."

Teagan nodded her head in agreement, planning to follow her friend until she heard it again, the noise from before. She shook her head, ignoring the whispery words in her head then walked out of the room, making her way out into the hallway.

Allison glanced over her shoulder once, seeing that Teagan was a few steps behind her before continuing on down the hall and heading for the room Katashi was in, which was where they were meeting back up with her father. She never turned around again, never noticing that Teagan had stopped again.

Teagan paused hearing a noise again, one she couldn't ignore. She titled her head to the side, listening to the faint voice, softly gasping when she realized it was Isaac; who was whispering out her name in a pained voice.

Worried that something had happened to him, she turned and ran back down the hall, her eyes frantically searched ever dark corner and room she came upon, as she looked for him.

After following his voice toward a room at the end of the hallway, she rushed inside it halting to a stop when she realized it was empty. She stood in the middle of the room, circling around with a confused look on her face as she tried to figure out what was going on.

She was about to leave the room, thinking maybe she stumbled into the wrong one but before she could do anything, she felt a small breeze on the back of her neck.

"Pathetic. So pathetic." She faintly heard through the silent room.

Teagan spun around; she recognized the voice, it was the voice she has heard numerous times in her head lately. She knew it was her mother speaking to her, it felt so real, she just knew the woman would be standing behind her but when she turned around, the room was still empty.

"Just one little cry from your werewolf lover and you come running, and it wasn't even real." Her mother's voice ranged throughout the room.

Teagan balled her fist in anger, as she snapped, "Why are you doing this?"

"To teach you a lesson." Lisa snapped back, then added, "To show you this world, will be the death of you. You cannot survive this world."

"What?" Teagan asked in confusion. She quickly spun around when she heard running footsteps enter the room, her eyes widened when one of the gunned men come into the room with her.

"Lost, little girl?" He asked, as he took a few more steps toward her, pointing a gun at her.

"I'm sorry, please don't hurt me." Teagan whimpered, as she held her hands up in surrender. When she saw the man release his finger from the trigger, she quickly grabbed a few smaller daggers from the wrist band on her left wrist, throwing one right after another at him. The first few missed him but the last one hit his hand, forcing him to drop his gun.

As he leaned down to pick up the gun, she ran over to him, lifting her knee to knee him in the chin. When he raised his head, she punched him, knocking him to the ground. When he reached out for the gun again, she kicked it away from him and then bent down to pick it up from the floor, pointing it at him, as she tried to catch her breath.

"Tuer ou être tué, Teagan." She heard her mother whispering in her head.

"No." Teagan whimpered, feeling her hands shake. She couldn't be a killer, she couldn't kill someone –even in self defense. No matter what her mother wanted, or what her mother said, she couldn't do it. She had to fight it, she had to be strong.

"Here's your chance, Teagan. This is your first step to getting your life back." Her mother said. "Tuer ou être tué, Teagan."

"No!" Teagan yelled.

"Yes! Do it! Do it, now!" Lisa screamed in her head.

Teagan yelled out in pain, the scream echoing in her head. She dropped the gun to place her hands over her ears as she dropped to the floor, crying out in pain as her mom continued to yell at her.

When the screaming stoped, she slowly removed her hands then raised her head; her breathing labored. The man she was fighting was back on his feet, the gun back in his hands and had it pointing at her again.

"Should have killed me when you had the chance, little girl." He snarled.

Teagan opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, he back handed her causing her to fall to the floor with a groan. She laid her hand against her jaw, where the blunt of the hit was. She moved her jaw back and forth, making sure it wasn't broken; which thankfully it wasn't.

She cried out in pain when he wrapped his hand around her hair, pulling her up to her feet and began to drag her out of the room. He continued to drag her down the hall, keeping a firm grip on her regardless of how many times she punch or clawed at his hands, trying to force him to let her go.

She faintly heard Chris telling Allison to take someone's gun away from a room nearby, the room the man was dragging her to. He placed the gun against the side of her head, as he pulled her into the room with the others. She saw Allison standing off to the side, and Chris standing in the middle of the room, he had a gun pointed at; she would guess the man they were looking for, Katashi.

"You've trained her well." Katashi said to Chris, referring to Allison. "But I think you will want to lower your gun." He added, as he looked over Chris' shoulders.

Chris and Allison looked over in the direction he was looking in and saw one of Katashi men holding Teagan at gun point. Chris turned back to look at Katashi, as he lowered his gun and said, "I just want to talk. Let her go."

"Guys?" They heard Isaac called out, as a couple of Katashi men brought him through another doorway on the other side of the room. "They have a werewolf too." He added, as the werewolf he mentioned had his claws against his neck.

Isaac didn't see Teagan standing with Allison or Chris, but he could tell she was in the room he heard her heart racing in fear. After hearing her whisper his name, so low only he heard it he cut his eyes to the side, feeling them widen when he saw a gun pointed at her head. He let out a low growl, feeling the werewolf beside him push his claws closer to his neck, his sharp nail grazing his skin causing a small nick.

Chris held up his hands, showing Katashi that he wasn't planning to hurt him as he took a few cautious steps toward him. He reached out to lay his gun on the table, as he said, "You've made your point. Now let them go."

Katashi nodded his head to his men, telling them to let the teen girl and werewolf go. Once Isaac was free, he stumbled over to Teagan, pulling her into his arms. He held her close, resting a hand on the back of her head as he breathed out a sigh of relief. He had never been as scared as he was in that moment when he saw a gun on her. All it would have taken was one pull of the trigger and he would have lost her forever.

He could faintly hear Chris talking to Katashi, reminding him of their past and showing him the shattered mask, but he wasn't paying attention to any of that. Instead he pulled back, laying his hands on either side of her face, as he checked over her. He saw a bruise forming on her jaw and felt his eyes flash in anger at the thought of someone hurting her.

She laid her hand on top of his, gripping at his hand, then nodded her head after he asked her if she okay. Honestly, she wasn't sure what she was, but knew now wasn't the time to think about what just happened. If she thought about it too much she was worried she would break down, and if she started, she wasn't sure if she would be able to stop. Too much was hitting her at once.

Isaac kept her by his side as the two walked over toward the others. Katashi explained what the dark creatures were, they were called Oni. He told them they were demons and were unstoppable.

"The Oni are a force of nature. You don't fight a tsunami. You endure it. And you hope that you're not destroyed in its path." Katashi explained.

"Then how do we endure it?" Allison questioned.

"One of you already has." Katashi said, as he made his way over to Teagan and Isaac, the latter tighten his grip on Teagan, unsure about what the older man was going to do.

Katashi reached up to turn Isaac's head to the side showing the mark behind his ear, as he continued, "This is Japanese kanji for 'self'. This means he is still himself. The Oni are looking for one who is no longer themselves."

"What do you mean no longer themselves?" Chris questioned.

"Possessed. By a dark spirit." Katashi answered. He explained that there were thirteen type of kitsune, but there was one, a dark kitsune. It was called void. Or nogitsune.

"Nogitsune draws its power from pain and tragedy, strife and chaos." He continued.

The more he talked, the more uneasy Teagan felt, causing her to cling on Isaac more, hoping his presence would make her feel safe, like it usually did but she was starting to think she would never feel safe again.

Katashi explained how years ago, he had planned to run from the Oni, until Chris fired a shot off, saving him from looking like a coward. He told Chris he owed him more than his life, he owed him his honor, but he was sorry he couldn't give them the answer they wanted.

Thinking the conversation was over Chris and Allison stood up, as Isaac began to turn toward the door, with Teagan closely by his side; wanting to get her out of there, until Katashi spoke up and stopped them.

"I will tell you one thing, however. If there is a nogitsune among you..." Katashi began to say. His eyes landed on Teagan, as he continued, "No matter who it is... Let the Oni destroy it." He moved his eyes to Allison, as he added, "Even if it is your own daughter."

Hearing Teagan softly gasp, Isaac pulled her closer to him, as he whispered in her ear, "Come on."

They didn't learn much, but they learned enough. Now he needed to get her home, find out if she was really okay and find out exactly what the hell happened. He was still on edge after coming so close to losing her and just needed some time alone with her.

In his opinion the rest could wait until tomorrow, now that they knew the Oni wasn't after them to hurt them, just to find the nogitsune and the rest of their problems could wait for the night. Right now he just needed her, that was it. Nothing else mattered.

**~()~**

"It's almost dark!" Aiden complained as Avery pulled onto Scott's street.

"Thank you captain obvious, have any other brilliant observations you'd like to enlighten me with?" She snapped as she started to pull to a stop.

"Why did you have to change clothes?" Aiden pushed as he sat in the direct center of her backseat.

Unhooking her seatbelt and looking over her shoulder she repeated what she'd already told him, "Would you like to try fighting demonic ninjas in a short dress and stiletto heels?"

Motioning down to the pair of jeans and boots she'd put on she said, "I'm going to be able to hold my own against them in clothes I can move around in."

Aiden opened his mouth with a comeback, but Ethan's attention was drawn to the house as a dark shadow fell over the street.

"Shut up, both of you!" He yelled as he jumped out of the car and headed towards the house, hearing the sounds of a fight Aiden jumped out leaving the back door wide open.

Avery raced towards the house after them as they both crashed through a large living room window. Landing in a crouch perfectly in sync, they both slowly raised their heads to see one of the dark masked figures closing in on Kira.

"Kira, get down!" Avery yelled as she jumped through the window frame, landing between the brothers as she pulled a gun from the waistband of her jeans and fired several shots at the figure, but it seemed entirely unfazed by the bullets.

"What the hell…" she breathed as the demon started towards her, she fired every shot until her clip was empty.

Realizing the gun was entirely useless she tossed it to the ground and looked beside her as Ethan and Aiden rose to their feet and glanced at her before they both charged the creature.

From across the room she saw Derek fighting with another demon, and Scott was taking on two by himself.

"What's the plan?" Avery shouted as she raced towards Kira when another demon started for her again.

"We need to get them outside!" Scott yelled back looking over in time to see Avery push Kira out of the way as she pulled the nunchaku nun-chucks from her jacket pocket and expertly swung them, slicing through the air and blocking the demon's sword as it swung at her.

Backing away from her approaching threat she backed right into someone, spinning around she was met by a pair of glowing blue eyes and a ravenous growl as Aiden looked up to the nun-chucks she'd swung and came within inches of hitting him with them.

They stared at each other, both of them clearly enraged with the other. Her eyes moved past him to the demon coming right up behind him with it's sword drawn. Her heart raced from the adrenaline of the fight as her mind raced, she had a split second decision, she could let the masked shadowed figure kill him or she could fight for him.

Finally rolling her eyes she darted past him towards the creature, at the same time he rushed past her. After knocking her target backwards into the coffee table, she glanced over her should to see Aiden send another masked figure across the room.

Then it dawned on her that while she'd been so absorbed in her hate for the former alpha and considering just watching him die, she'd forgotten about the demon she'd been backing away from; which left him with the same decision. Fight for her or let her be unsuspectingly snuck up on and killed.

"Mom, get the ash!" Scott shouted as he threw the one he'd been fighting out of the window, and then rushed to Derek's aid.

Melissa darted to where she had a small canister of mountain ash, the last ingredient of the alarm system Dr. Deaton helped install in their house.

She didn't have much time to focus on what anyone else was doing when Kira peered out from behind the kitchen island she was hiding behind when Avery had pushed her out of the way, and saw the shadowed figures approaching her friend, "Avery!" She shouted.

The blonde's gaze snapped from Scott's mom to where she now had two demons closing in on her, swinging the nun-chucks to block the blade strikes from their swords she backed up her back colliding with Aiden's but this time neither of them turned around as they were each keeping their eyes on their approaching targets.

Aiden let out a deep, guttural growl towards the one approaching him, as Avery blocked one sword hit after another, until the strong chain holding the nun-chucks together finally gave way from another powerful impact of their iron swords.

"Uh…" Avery breathed out, backing farther into Aiden's back as she admitted, "We've got a problem."

"What?" He asked, his voice muffled through his extended canine fangs as he glanced over his shoulder to see she'd been fighting not just one of the demon ninjas, but two of them.

Derek looked up across the room as he and Scott managed to toss the second demon from the house, just in time to see the two figures closing in on Avery.

He started to rush to her aid, but it soon became clear she might not need it. As Aiden reached behind him and grabbed Avery, flipping her in the in air as he spun them around, still back to back until he was facing off against the two and leaving her with the one he'd been fighting.

From both of the force of his toss and her quick thinking she managed to place both of her boots in the center of the demon's body and kick it with such force that it flew out of the still open door Derek had busted into the house through.

Pulling herself to her feet with a confident smirk Avery glanced over to where Derek was watching them.

Within moment's Aiden wrestled the other ninja from the house, and Scott threw out the fifth and final one.

"Mom, now! Do it now!" Scott yelled.

Not wasting a second, his mother ran to the front door and threw the canister down, completing a barrier of mountain ash around the house; locking not only the masked creatures out, but everyone else inside.

"All the baseboards are ashwood?" Derek asked as he and Scott now stood next to an open doorway.

"Yeah, it was Deaton's idea. Where the hell did you come from?" The teenager asked the older wolf.

"I've been following you." Derek admitted.

"For how long?"

"All day." Derek nonchalantly replied.

"It's a good thing we all showed up, there's no way you could have handled this yourself." Aiden argued as he stood next to Avery with his arms crossed over his chest, still coming down from the high of the fight.

With a brow arched in anger at the alpha she nodded "Yeah Scott, you definitely needed our help."

"Our help?" Ethan asked with a small laugh at her change in attitude.

With a heavy sigh and eye roll she motioned between herself and twins as she said, "Yes, our help."

Scott opened his mouth to say something but before he could his mom frantically called him into the other room.

"What's happening?" Avery asked, but he didn't respond as he raced off.

Sniffing the air Ethan admitted, "I smell blood…"

"It's Scott's dad." Kira informed them, coming out from her hiding place as she looked towards the door where a few of the demon figures were standing, unable to pass the barrier.

Slowly she walked forward and reached up towards the doorway, but gasped as she jerked her hand back from the shock she got.

Aiden walked over and leaned against the door frame as he asked, "It's Kira, right?"

Sighing and pulling her hair out of the ponytail Avery rubbed her scalp and looked to where Derek was watching her as she asked, "What do we do now?"

Shrugging he admitted, "Wait for the sun to come up."

"Aiden!" Ethan said as he saw his brother roughly grab onto Kira's arm.

"Watch!" He yelled back as he tried to put Kira's hand through the doorway, but again the mountain ash barrier shocked her back.

"See that?" Aiden asked his twin as Kira struggled to pull her arm away from him.

Ethan walked over with a confused expression as Avery followed behind and demanded, "Let go of her."

"She can't go through it either." Aiden said letting go of Kira and looking to Avery.

"She's a Kitsune, idiot. Use your eyes, you can see it all around her. The younger ones haven't learned how to conceal it." He explained as he leaned against the back of a chair.

"I knew it…" Avery breathed shaking her head as she continued to explain, "I couldn't see it, but I could feel this energy in the air around you… I just couldn't figure it out."

Kira stammered out, "That's why you kept following me around?"

The blonde nodded as she asked, "Why else would I have been following you?"

"Honestly…" Kira breathed as she tucked her dark hair behind her ear and quietly admitted, "to begin with I thought, you know… maybe you liked me. And then I thought you were with, Scott. I really didn't know what was going on with you."

Laughing Avery shook her head as she said, "No, and double no. I was just trying to figure out what was different about you…"

"I didn't even know." Kira assured her with a weak smile.

"So you don't know what kind you are?" Derek questioned the teen.

Kira shook her head back and forth.

After checking on his dad and seeing what bad shape he was in, Scott got a phone call from Allison explaining what she, Teagan, Isaac and her dad had found out.

That the demon warriors were actually called Oni, and they were looking for someone possessed by an evil spirit, known as a Nogistune. They weren't there to kill anyone innocent, but they would take out whoever stood in their way.

Avery walked closer to the doorway and stared at the masks of the Oni as they waited to be able to get back into the house. Derek talked with Ethan and Aiden, who claimed they were there to fight for Scott.

"I'm sure you are, I'm sure you'd kill for him." Derek said as he faced the brothers, "But are you willing to die for him?"

Turning around Avery sighed as she said, "Right now that honestly doesn't matter, because we are all on the same side… trying to save Scott and not get killed by these demons… and I don't know how much longer we have left."

Feeling the house rattle, they looked up to see the Oni were trying to break the barrier with the handles of their swords.

Joining back up with everyone else Scott asked, "What are they doing?"

"Testing for weaknesses." Ethan guessed taking a weary step forward.

With each incessant strike from their swords the house shook more as dishes fell from the cabinets and busted on the floor and picture frames fell off the walls.

Everyone looked around the house in horror, knowing they were minutes away from being in a fight for their lives again.

As one of them started to push their hands through the barrier, Avery rushed forward placing her hands against the other side and letting out a groan of pain as she fought back against the Oni and patched the weakness they'd found.

"What are you doing?" Aiden asked her stepping closer.

"Keeping… them… out." She hissed through the pain.

"Avery stop!" Derek ordered as he stepped closer intending to pull her away, it was obvious she was over exerting her abilities.

But both twins stepped behind her and in front of Derek as Ethan pointed out, "If she can keep those things out of here and away from all of us, let her."

"And if it kills her?" Derek asked, angrily at them as he pushed them to the sides and tried to grab her arm, but it was like the mountain ash was a part of her no matter how hard he tried to pull her away, she had a barrier around her too that he couldn't pierce.

"Avery, stop… it's okay. Let them in." Scott said remembering what Allison had told him on the phone.

"No." she growled through gritted teeth, feeling pain throughout her entire body as they tried to break through with their sword handles.

"They're not going to hurt us, as long as we stay out of their way." He reminded her.

"What… about Kira?" She asked, her sentence ended with a shriek of pain as two of the Oni used their swords at the same time to try and open another weakness.

"They're after a dark spirit and that's not her." He argued.

"We don't know that for sure." Avery argued, as a few droplets of blood started to drip from her nose.

"I do." Scott pleaded, seeing her growing weaker with each passing minute.

"But I don't." She said loudly as she slammed her palms against the barrier knocking the Oni back a few inches.

"I do, it's not her. Trust me." He said as he now stood beside her.

She looked over at him as more blood ran from her nose. This was something she wasn't used to, not only being in a pack, but wholeheartedly trusting someone else. Trusting anyone had never come easy to her, especially not in situations of life and death.

Taking a deep breath she slowly moved her hands from the doorway and took a weak, stumbling step backwards where Ethan steadied her for a moment before Derek led her over to a chair to sit down.

Wiping the blood from her face she looked up as the Oni walked in the house and Scott ordered everyone to stand down, before taking Kira's hand and letting the Oni check them both.

As she watched them be lowered to their knees a chill ran up her spine as she remembered having the exact same thing happen to her in the gas station bathroom.

Once the demons stepped back and disappeared both twins raced to Scott to check on him and Avery tried to stand up but Derek put a hand on her shoulder trying to keep her sitting down.

Shrugging away from his grip she stood up and said, "I'm fine…"

His eyebrows pushed together in confusion at seeing her normal light brown eyes were such a dark brown now they almost appeared to be black, "I'm fine." She repeated before disappearing into the hallway and coming back with a heavy blanket she'd found in the closet.

As she dropped to the floor beside Kira and began to wrap her up in it, she looked over to Ethan and Aiden as she remembered what Teagan had told her about the night Isaac was attacked, "You have to make him turn."

"What?" Aiden asked glancing over his shoulder to see her trying to comfort Kira.

"Make him turn." She repeated, not looking up.

"Kira, Kira! Stay awake… you need to stay with me." Avery demanded as she made sure the blanket was all tucked in around her new friend, and listened to the sounds of one of the brothers hitting Scott until he finally let out a growl and his eyes showed red as he scooted away from them.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- I hope everyone liked the chapter, thank you for reading. ^_^**


	18. You Can't Save Her

**Chapter 18- You Can't Save Her**

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><p>Isaac silently drove the car down the road, his mind going back to earlier. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the imagine of a gun pointed at her head from his mind.<p>

His worst nightmare; losing her, was almost made a reality right in front of his face and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't calm down after that. He felt the need to hit something, to do anything, to get his feelings out.

He felt like he failed her, here he was; a big, strong werewolf, and he couldn't even keep her safe. He already felt helpless enough, not being able to save her from her own mind, but now he couldn't even save her from henchmen with guns either. Little by little, he felt like he was losing her and there was nothing he could do to change that.

He glanced over at her for a moment, watching her silently look out the passenger side window deep in though. She was right beside him, but it still felt like she was too far away.

He turned his eyes back to the road and reached out to lay a hand on her knee, causing her to jump, before she turned her head toward him with wide, watery, eyes.

She had been trying so hard to silence the voice in her head, she had forgotten for a moment where she was or that he was with her.

"Sorry." Isaac mumbled. He removed his hand, placing it back on the steering wheel, as he added,"I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay." Teagan softly said. She reached out to grab his hand, pulling it back toward her, as she gripped his hand and laid it in her lap; just needing that connection to stay grounded. "I was just lost in thought and you surprised me." She added.

"What were you thinking about?" Isaac questioned, as he glanced over at her for a moment, as he turned on to her street.

Teagan released a breath, as she said,"Just stuff. Diff-Different stuff."

She knew he had tons of questions and wanted to know what happened, and she wanted to tell him, but it was all still so fresh in her mind; the gun pointed at her, her mom screaming at her to shoot. Even now her mother was yelling at her, telling her she failed, but there was still time.

She was worried if she began to open up to him, there would be no stopping it. If she began to break down, she feared she would never be able to pull herself back together. She could feel that she was slipping, but was trying so hard to hang on.

Isaac parked the car in the empty driveway, then turned in his seat to face her; planning to talk to her, to get her to open up, but before he could say a word, she opened the car door to step out.

She took a deep breath, holding it in her lungs a few extra seconds, before releasing it; being stuck in the car with her thoughts was almost making it too hard to breathe. There was too much hitting her at once, she didn't know how much longer she could do this, how much longer she could hang on to herself.

She laid a hand on the side of her head, grabbing a hand full of her hair, as her mother's voice began to get louder and she began to show her violent imagines; things she wanted Teagan to do, the things she thought Teagan needed to do to gain her life back. The pictures flashed in her mind like a picture book, then for a second everything went back to normal; the imagines were gone, the voice was gone. Everything was eerie silent.

Her eyes nervously jumped around, wondering what was going to happen next, when suddenly it all come back in a rush, her mother showing her what she wanted her to do now to Isaac as she screamed at her. The commands overwhelming her and causing her to crack.

Isaac lowered his eyebrows in confusion, seeing her bent over, her breathing labored and the heel of hands pressed against her eyes; like she was trying so hard to push some imagine from her mind.

He threw the car door opened and rushed over to her and laid a hand on her back, slowly moving it around to comfort her, as he asked if she was okay.

"I can't-I can't stop... I can't stop." She panted.

"Can't stop what?" Isaac asked confused.

"I can't stop picturing it. All the-All the violence. There's too much and I can't-"She tried to say before her voice trailed off in a sob.

"Shh, it's okay." Isaac whispered out, as he continued to rub her back. "Teagan, it's not real. Just remember it's not real. It can't hurt you, okay? I won't let it hurt you."

"It's not-It's not okay. It's not okay." She cried out, as she shook her head from side to side. "She wants-She wants it to be real. She wants me to... but I can't-I can't do what she wants me to. I can't!" Teagan yelled, as she fell down her knees on the ground. Her fingernails dug into the dirt, pulling clumps of grass up, as she cried out against something he couldn't see.

"Your mom? Is it your mom again?" Isaac questioned, as he went down to the ground beside her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her toward him, trying to comfort her the best way he knew how. When she nodded her head at his question, he continued,"What does she want you to do? Teagan, what is she saying?"

Teagan snapped her head up, her eyes locking with his and an eerie calm look on her face, as she stated,"She wants me to kill you."

Isaac nervously licked his lips, for a moment he felt like he was looking at a stranger, as she titled her head to the side; looking at him with an unreadable expression on her face. Then in a flash it was like she was herself again, as fresh tears filled her eyes, and she stared at him looking scared out of her mind.

"Come on, let's get you inside." Isaac offered, as he tightened his hold around her waist, helping her back up to her feet.

"N-No. You-You have to stay away. Stay away from-from me." Teagan choked out, as she pushed away from him and ran toward the front door of her house. After all the things her mother showed her and yelled at her, she was worried about the imagines coming true; that she would slip and hurt him again.

He saw her struggling with unlocking the front door and made his way over toward her, ignoring her earlier plea. He stood behind her, placing a hand on her side, letting her know he was there for her, that he wasn't leaving. Just like he had promised over and over again.

She breathed out a sigh, then leaned back against him, needing his comfort now more than ever. He laid his forehead against the back of her head, the two standing still for a moment, enjoying the others presence before he reached forward, taking the key from her hand and unlocking the door.

Teagan pushed the door open and stepped away from him to take a few steps inside. She wrapped her arms around herself, like she was holding herself or possible holding herself back from doing something bad.

She closed her eyes for a moment, a pained look on her face, as the imagines began to flash in her mind again; different scenarios of ways she should hurt Isaac. Tears filled her eyes as she heard his cries in her head each and every time she hurt him. She couldn't stop seeing in her mind the look in his eyes; seeing the love and life leave them, every time she killed him.

She took a shaky breath, then turned around to face him, as she said,"You should leave."

"You're joking, right?" Isaac stated, as he walked toward her. "I almost lost you tonight, Teagan. There was a gun to your head and now you're having some kind of break down. Do you honestly think I would leave you alone after that?"

"You have to." Teagan softly said, as she glanced down at the floor. She closed her eyes again, another pained look on her face, as she tried to fight against her mother's voice. She was trying so hard not to slip up, not to give in to the demands, but the longer he stood in front of her, the harder it was.

Her eyes snapped opened, as she looked back at him, and said,"You can't be here. I can't-I can't fight her anymore." Tears streamed down her face, as she tearfully admitted,"I don't know if I want to anymore. It's too hard fighting it, I'm not that strong."

"Yes you are." Isaac argued. He stepped forward to stand in front of her, laying his hands on either side of her face, forcing her to look at him, as he stated,"You are stronger than you know, Teagan. You can fight her. You have to fight her!"

"I can't... I can't." Teagan whimpered, as she squeezed her eyes shut. She could faintly hear Isaac pleading with her, trying to get through to her, but all she could really hear was her mother's voice as she said the same thing over and over again, until she finally mouthed the words quietly to herself,"Tuer ou être tué."

While Isaac was distracted looking at her, she reached inside the jacket she was wearing; pulling a dagger she got earlier from Allison, from the pocket. She mouthed the words from her mother again, as she began to raise her arm, the dagger in her hand, all she could think about was stabbing it in his heart. It was like she wasn't even in control of her own thoughts anymore. She wasn't herself and was too tired to fight against it.

Isaac lowered his eyebrows in confusion, seeing her mouth something to herself, then saw her hand out of the corner of his eye. He quickly gripped her wrist to stop her, he applied a little pressure, not enough to hurt her, but enough to make her drop the dagger.

Hearing the weapon clatter to the floor, Teagan gasped, as she pulled back from him, feeling like she was coming out of a daze. With wide eyes, she looked at him, then down at the floor where the dagger was laying.

Her eyes flickered back up to him, as tears filled them, she placed her hand over her mouth in shock at what she almost did. "Oh, my God. I didn't mean- I-I didn't want to do it. I just-Oh God!" She cried out, as she turned and raced for the stairs, not trusting herself around him any longer.

Isaac watched her flee from the room to rush up the stairs, almost tripping on her own feet. He heard her bedroom door slam shut, then saw Aspen began to walk down the stairs, after she kicked him out of the room. He gave the dog a pat on the head, then led him into the kitchen to let him out in the fenced in back yard.

He snapped his head up to the ceiling when he heard noise coming from her room. At first he was confused until he heard more crashing noises and realized what she was doing. She was trashing her room.

"Shit." He mumbled to himself, as he ran to the stairs, taking them two at a time, and raced to her bedroom door. He could hear her screaming on the other side, as she threw more things across her room.

"Teagan!" Isaac yelled out, as he beat on the closed, locked, door. When he heard another loud crash, followed by her yelling again, he slammed his shoulder into the door, using all his werewolf strength to force the door open.

His eyes widen in surprise when he saw the condition of her room. Every picture frame or knick knack that was on her dresser was now in the floor. Any picture or poster on her wall, had been ripped down. Her room was completely destroyed.

"Teagan?" Isaac said, as he held up his hands and cautiously took a step inside the room. "Babe, hey, look at me, okay? You need to listen to me, you need to calm down." He added.

"No!" Teagan screamed, as she moved her arm across the top of her desk, knocking everything in to the floor. She turned back around to face Isaac, as she yelled,"Don't you see? This is me, this is your Teagan now! This is who I am."

"This isn't you!" Isaac argued.

"Yes, it is!" She yelled back. She turned toward her bed, grabbing a picture frame from the bedside table. She looked down at it, seeing it was a picture of her mother, then screamed out,"Leave me alone!" Before she slammed it on to the floor, causing it to shatter on impact.

Isaac flinched when she grabbed the alarm clock by the bed and flung it across the room, barely missing his head and hitting the wall with a loud bang. He saw her turn to face him, then grab the side of her head, pulling at her hair in frustration. He was about to rush to her, to comfort her, but before he could make a move, she began talk.

"I'm the girl going out of her freaking mind. I'm the girl who is hearing her dead mother in her head, telling her to do terrible things. To do awful things and the really terrible part of it all, is I want to do those things. I want to do every single bad thing to you that she is begging me to do." She reached up to wipe away the tears that fell from her eyes, as she cried,"I want to hurt you. I want to hurt you so bad, and I'm fighting against her everyday to not do that and it's so hard. And I'm so tired. I can't-I can't do it anymore. I can't fight anymore. Isaac I can't do it!"

Seeing her break down, Isaac stepped over the broken glass and shattered objects on the floor, to stand in front of her. He grabbed her arms, holding on to her, as she tried to push him away; scared she would hurt him again. But no matter how hard she tried to push, he wasn't letting go. He laid a hand on the back of her neck, pulling her toward him as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against him.

"No, hey, listen to me." Isaac called out, as she continued to fight against him, trying to get away, forcing him to just hold on to her tighter. "You can fight this, Teagan. We will fight this together, okay? It's you and me, remember? It's always you and me. No one can change that, no one will change that, nothing can drive us apart." He said, as he kissed the side of her head.

At his words, he felt her give in, accepting his comfort and melting into his embrace. He held her a few more minutes longer, then pulled back to look at her, wiping the tears from her face, feeling his heart break when he saw the broken look on her face.

The last time he saw her this broken was when Aleine took her dad, and Avery had left with Deucalion. For a split second, he was worried she would never come back from that, but he vowed not to give up on her, to pull her back and he would continue to do that. He wasn't going to give up, like before, he would have enough hope for the both of them.

"It's always you and me, babe, always." Isaac softly said again. He would say those words ever how many times she needed to hear it, until he finally got through to her.

"Stop." Teagan whispered, as she took a step back from him, suddenly needing her distance. She placed her hands on the side of her head, as she yelled out,"Stop it... Stop it... Stop it!"

"Teagan, don't listen to her, whatever she is saying, you have to fight it." Isaac stated, assuming she was hearing her mother again.

Teagan shook her head, a strange look appearing on her face, making her look nothing like the girl he knew. "I'm talking about you." She snarled. She took a step toward him, jabbing a finger in his chest, as she continued,"Stop with your pathetic declaration of love. Nothing you say will change anything." She laid back hands on his chest, pushing him backwards, as she screamed out,"You can't save her! It's too late, you can't save her!"

"Teagan?" Isaac questioned, as he looked at her closely, feeling like he was speaking to someone else. "Who? Who can't be saved?" He asked.

Teagan blinked her eyes, seeing the confused and concern look on his face. She took a quick step back, glancing around in confusion for a moment, before she looked back at him, and stuttered out,"M-Me. I meant-I meant you can't save me. You can't make it stop. No one can make it stop."

"No one can make it stop." She quietly repeated to herself, as she turned around, looking at the state her room was in. Seeing something shining on her bedroom floor, she rushed over to it; falling down to her knees, as she grabbed the bracelet.

She stared down at the infinity bracelet that once belonged to her mother; remembering all the times it popped up out of nowhere in the beginning, when she first started hearing from her mother. She had also used it in the sacrifice, making her think in her mind that it was the bracelet's fault. Maybe if she destroyed it, everything will stop and she will be herself again.

With that thought in mind, she began to pull on it from both ends, trying to rip it in half. "Make it stop, make it stop." She whimpered, as she pulled harder, then cried out in frustration when nothing happened.

"Teagan, stop!" Isaac stated, as he dropped down in front of her, taking the bracelet from her hand and dropping it back to the floor. He grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze, and laid his other hand on the side of her face, forcing her to look at him.

With tears in her eyes, she stated,"It started with the bracelet. I have to destroy the bracelet. If I destroy it I'll-I'll be okay, I'll be normal again."

Isaac shook his head, as he said,"It's not the bracelet." He thought back to the times when she hallucinated and the bracelet was nowhere around. It might have started with the bracelet, but this was bigger than that now. This was something else.

He wiped the tears from her face, as he continued,"I don't know what is causing all of this, but whatever it is, we'll figure it out. I promise you, I won't give up on you."

Teagan sat back on her heels with a sigh, her eyes dropping down to the floor, seeing a shard of glass from one of the picture frames she broke earlier. She heard her mother laughing in her mind, telling her to pick it up and shove it in Isaac's neck.

"No, no... I won't. I won't do it." Teagan whimpered, her hands shaking, itching to grab the glass. "Don't make me do it, mom please, don't make me do it." She cried out, as she began to move her hand toward it against her well.

"Teagan?" Isaac questioned, as she began to cry harder, pleading with her mother in her mind.

Teagan gasped as she cut her eyes to Isaac, her breathing labored and a pained look on her face. "Go. You got to go, please go now, Isaac. Go before it's too late." She quietly pleaded with him, almost as if she was scared someone would overhear her.

"No." Isaac stated, as he shook his head, refusing to leave her alone during this.

"You're a fool." Teagan said with a slight chuckle, as she titled her head to the side, sounding nothing like herself.

In a flash, she reached out to grab the piece of glass, then stood up from the floor. She raised her eyebrows in surprise when Isaac stood up with her, standing in front of her, making no move to leave the room.

"So what are you going to do, Isaac? Hmm? How are you going to save poor, little, Teagan?" She asked sarcastically. "How are you going to get the girl back that you fell in love with?"

She looked down at the glass in her hand, then cut her eyes up at him, as she added,"What are you going to do if I stab this in your heart, hmm? I mean, I know werewolves can heal, but what if I was to rip your heart out? I doubt you can survive that, am I right?"

"This isn't you, Teagan." Isaac said, as he shook his head. "This is your mom. She is making your do these things, to say these things. I know you don't want to hurt me." He added, as he held up his hands and took a step closer to her. "Teagan, you would never hurt me."

"You don't know how wrong you are, Isaac." She said, as she moved her arm toward him, planning to cut him across the stomach with the glass.

Isaac quickly jumped back, avoiding the glass, then reached out to grab her wrist. He saw her raise her other hand, planning to punch him, forcing him to grab her other wrist. He moved forward, walking her across the room until her back slammed against the wall, causing her to laugh out loud.

"Wow, who knew you had in it you." She said with another chuckle, as he squeezed her wrist like before, making her drop the glass.

She titled her head to the side, as she clicked her tongue, then said,"What are you going to do now, Isaac? Are you going to hurt me?" She laughed again when she saw his eyes flash and felt him applying more pressure to her wrist, she knew she was making him mad. She knew exactly which buttons to push to set him off.

With an evil smirk on her face, she continued sarcastically, "Are you going to show me what your daddy taught you? He would be so proud if he could see you now."

She saw his face fall at her words, as he glanced down, seeing how tightly he was holding her wrist. He could already tell it was going to leave a bruise later the worst part is at the time he didn't even realize he was doing it.

Isaac dropped her wrists, then took a quick step back, as he took several deep breaths, trying to control his anger and disappointment in himself. He had hurt her, something he never wanted to do, and what scared him the most was how easily he slipped into that anger. No matter what she said, or better yet; what her mother forced her to say, he never should have snapped like that.

"Isaac?" Teagan breathed out, getting his attention.

He turned his head to look at her, seeing the girl he loves staring right back at him, but at the moment he didn't feel like he deserved that love. Not after what he just did to her.

He saw her slide down the wall, almost if the last little bit of energy she had was now gone. She pulled her legs up to her chin, as she softly said,"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Isaac shook his head, wanting to tell her it was okay, but couldn't find the words. All he could hear was her taunts from earlier and the feel of her wrist as he squeezed it too hard.

Suddenly needing some air, he took a few steps back, almost tripping on his own feet, then rushed out of the room and make his way downstairs. He jerked the front door open and rushed out onto the porch, leaning against the railing, as he took several deep breaths.

He turned around, sinking down to the ground and pulling his legs up, as he rested his head in his hands. He knew the things she said wasn't her fault, but he had no excuse. There was nothing he could blame his actions on.

When he heard her crying from the upstairs bedroom, he reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. Feeling at a loss on what to do to help her, he called the one person he hope would know what to do.

**~()~**

Isaac stayed on the porch, his back against the railing, as he ran his fingers through his hair, still beating himself up for what he did earlier. He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a car door slam shut, causing him to turn his head toward the drive way and seeing Avery rushing over toward him.

All he told her earlier when he called was that something was wrong with Teagan. That was all she needed to hear before she ran to her car and drove to her best friend's house.

"Hey, where is she? What's going on?" Avery questioned, as she walked up the porch stairs.

"She's-She's freaking out and I don't know what to do." Isaac said frantically, as he stood up. "I just... I made it worse. I screwed up." He admitted, as he looking down at his hands; remembering what he did.

"Wait, what? What do you mean? What happened?" Avery asked concern. She could tell by the look on his face that something bad happened, something worst than the usual hallucinations Teagan had lately. She could tell whatever was going on, he was beating himself up badly for it, blaming himself for something.

"Hey, Isaac, look at me." She said, as she reached out to lay a comforting hand on his arm. "Whatever you think you did, however you think you screwed up, I can bet it is not your fault. Now tell me what happened."

"It's her mom. It's getting worse." Isaac said frantically. "She's getting stronger, we need to do something, Avery. Or I'm scared... I'm scared we are going to lose her."

He filled her in on what happened that night. He started with earlier, telling her what happened at Katashi; the parts that he knew at least. Then told her what happened after they arrived at her house. The way she was acting, the things she was saying. He looked down at the ground, feeling ashamed, as he admitted to what he did.

"Hey..." Avery said, getting his attention. She shook her head, as she continued, "It was an accident. You would never hurt her. I know this, okay? She knows this, and she would hate seeing you beat yourself up like this. You can't blame yourself, if you want to blame someone, blame her mother. She is doing this to Teagan, it is not Teagan. It's her!"

"I know, but I don't-I don't know how to save her." Isaac stated helplessly. "All I can do is stand there and watch the girl I love slip away, and I don't know what to do."

"Okay, okay, let's think about this." Avery mumbled, as she ran a hand through her hair. "When me, Scott and Stiles talked to Deaton, he mentioned a door being open, being ajar. Maybe her door is still open." She stated, then continued, "I mean, when he first mentioned it, it seemed like she was better, but maybe that was just like, the calm before the storm, and now Lisa can get to her cause of that door. If we shut the door, she'll go away."

"How do we shut the door?" Isaac questioned.

"I can do it." Avery suddenly said, an idea hitting her. She had done it before, with her own mother and Deaton, back when she got into their minds. It wasn't going to be easy and it was going to be painful, but she was sure it would work, it just had to. All she knew was they couldn't lose Teagan.

"What do you mean?" Isaac asked confused.

"Follow me." Avery said, as she headed for the front door. The quicker she could do this, the quicker they could get Teagan back.

The two made their way upstairs, walking into the bedroom, Avery's eyes widen when she saw how the room looked. Isaac told her Teagan had destroyed the room, but she didn't really believe it until she saw it. Losing your temper and trashing a room, was the type of thing she did, not Teagan.

"Teagan?" Avery softly said, as she stepped further into the room, seeing her best friend sitting on the floor, her back against the wall and her legs pulled up to her chin.

Teagan raised her head, tears rolling down her face as she looked at them. Since Isaac left the room, she kept her head down, trying to forget the things she did and said, but seeing him again now made it all come back.

Her eyes landed on him, as she softly cried,"I'm sorry. I didn't-I didn't mean-"

"It's okay." Isaac whispered back, interrupting her. "That's not why we're here. We're here to fix you."

"You are?" Teagan questioned with a hopeful look.

"I am." Avery stated, as she walked closer to her. She sat down on the floor in front of her, then reached out to lay her hands on the side of her head until Teagan jumped back, asking her what she was doing.

"I'm going to go into your mind, and close the door." Avery explained.

"What? You-You can do that? How?" Teagan questioned.

"I'll explain later. Let's get you fixed up first, okay?" Avery said back.

"Is it going to hurt?" Isaac asked, as he nervously stood behind Avery.

Avery looked over her shoulder, glancing up to look at him, as she said,"I'm going into her head, poking around to look for a 'door', it's not going to feel like a walk in the park."

"And this will work? This will make her nor- I mean, she'll be better?" Isaac nervously asked. Staying away from the word 'normal'. Using that word make it seem like she wasn't normal now, but she was. She was still the girl he fell in love with, she was normal, she just needed a little help.

"Let's hope so." Avery mumbled, as she turned back to look at Teagan; who had went silent while they talked. She didn't have any energy to speak up, the last little bit she had left was used to hold her mother back.

Avery looked at her best friend, watching her closely, then took a deep breath, feeling her fingers tingle. She knew this would probably hurt her, and she hated hurting her, but it had to be done.

Avery released the breath she was holding, then placed her fingertips on the side of Teagan's head, as she cleared her own mind to get inside her best friend's head. Isaac glanced up for a moment when he saw the lights flicker a couple of times, then looked back down, watching the two girls, waiting to see if this would work.

When nothing happened, he opened his mouth to ask what was going on; was it working, was the door shut, but before he could say a word, Avery screamed out as the light above his head blew, the shattered light bulb falling down around him.

He saw Teagan's eyes flutter shut as she whimpered out in pain. It felt like the worst migraine you could ever have. Her head was throbbing, as Avery searched inside her mind, looking for the so-called door to shut.

Avery opened her eyes, seeing that she was standing in the middle of a long, dark, hallway. She cautiously took a few steps, as she looked from side to side, wondering where the hell she was.

When she got to the end of the hall, her eyes widen in surprise when she saw a door wide open. "Must be the door." She mumbled to herself, as she reached out to grab it, but before she could push it closed, she heard a voice from behind her.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Lisa asked.

Avery turned around, surprised to see the older woman. She knew Teagan had seen her mother, but she never thought she would see the woman again.

"Didn't expect to see me, huh?" Lisa questioned, seeing the look on the blonde's face.

"You came through the door. You're actually here, on this side, with us." Avery stated, everything making more sense. Teagan wasn't just being haunted by her mother cause of a open door, somehow Lisa came through the door and was actually in her daughter's mind, trying to force her to hurt her friends.

"Yes, and I'm not going back. Not until I save my daughter." Lisa stated. She took a step closer to Avery, as she continued,"I know what you are, Avery. I know more than you could ever imagine." She smirked at the younger girl, as she added,"But it doesn't matter what you are or how powerful you are, you can't stop me."

Without another word, Lisa laid her hands on Avery's shoulders, pushing her backwards and out of Teagan's mind. Avery gasped as her eyes snapped open, seeing that she was back in Teagan's bedroom.

She was already feeling weak after holding back the oni earlier at Scott's, but now the last little bit of energy she had was gone. She wasn't expecting for Lisa to actually be in Teagan's mind and push her out.

Avery raised her head, panting for breath, and saw Isaac sitting beside Teagan on the floor. He had his girlfriend pressed against his side, as he stared at Avery with a concern look on his face.

"What happened?" He questioned, as he shifted Teagan around to rest comfortably against him. After battling her mother and then having Avery in her head, she could barely keep her eyes open.

"She was there." Avery answered, as she tried to stand up, but felt the room spinning, causing her to sit back down. "Lisa was there. I didn't think- I didn't expect her to be there. She's stronger than we thought. She's too strong."

"Are you okay?" Isaac asked, seeing how pale and weak she looked.

"I'm-I'm not..." Avery began to say, as she laid a hand on her forehead to rub it. She took a deep breath, then slowly released it, as she dropped her hand and raised her head to look at him. "Yeah I'm fine." She stated.

"You're not fine." Isaac argued. He stood up from the floor; with Teagan in his arms. Realizing she had fallen asleep, he carefully laid her in her bed, tucking her in, then turned to look at Avery as he continued,"You are not okay, Avery."

"I am." She lied, as she stood from the floor, staggering on her feet for a moment until she caught herself. "I just need to get home. Get some sleep."

"You're not going home." Isaac said, as he folded his arms across his chest. "Teagan would kick both of our asses if you left and something happened. Why don't you go rest in the guest room for a few hours, then you can go home?"

"Okay." Avery softly said, not having the energy to fight about it any longer.

She began to walk toward the bedroom door, carefully stepping over everything laying in the floor. She glanced over at the bed, seeing Isaac standing by it and staring down at Teagan. He had his hands in his pockets, like he was afraid to touch her, afraid he might hurt her again.

"I'm sorry." Avery mumbled so low no one could hear, no one but Isaac; who turned his head to look at her.

"It's okay." He quietly said back.

"No, it's not. I failed her. I always promised that nothing would harm her and I've broken that promise again and again." Avery said, as tears filled her eyes. She shook her head, wiping away the lone tear on her check, as she stood up straight, refusing to break down now. She had to be strong for Teagan, she had to be strong for Isaac, but later in the room, when she was alone; that was the moment she could break down, but not a second before.

"We'll save her though. I'll save her." She added, giving him a little bit of hope to hold on to. At the moment, she didn't know how to save her, but she didn't want to see him give up. Teagan needed them both to believe she can be fixed. They needed to be strong for her.

She turned to leave, then turned back around, as she said,"Oh and one more thing... stop beating yourself up and just hold her. She needs you, Isaac. She needs your love and your strength. Nothing else matters."

Without another word, Avery walked out of the bedroom and down the hall to the spare room. Once inside she shut the door, then leaned back against, sinking to the floor as silent tears rained down her face, feeling at a loss on what to do, as she watched her best friend slip further and further away.

She couldn't save her best friend, even after tapping into something she knew she wasn't suppose to. She could feel the power swirling around inside of her, begging for more, wanting her to draw in more power, but she knew she couldn't. The more she did it, the more she could feel a piece of herself slipping away.

But maybe this was her fate, and if it saved her friends in the end, even if she lost herself along the way, maybe it would all be worth it. Her friends could be saved, there was still hope for them, but not for herself. She couldn't be saved.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thanks for reading! ^_^**


	19. Just Hold Me Instead

**Chapter 19 - Just Hold Me Instead**

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><p>The next morning, Teagan cracked her eyes open, then quickly shut them when the bright sun hit them. She felt like she was suffering from the worst hangover; her head was pounding, her eyes felt heavy and her body hurt. The feeling wasn't that surprising though, after fighting her mother all night and having Avery poking around in her head, it made sense she would feel this way.<p>

She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, as she rolled over on to her other side. She threw her arm out, hoping to feel Isaac beside her, then pouted when she felt the cool mattress instead. Making her think he left her at some point that night.

With a sigh, she opened her eyes again, and was surprised to see that Isaac was still there, but instead of being in her bed with her, he was sitting in the oversized armchair that was sitting in the corner, watching her.

He didn't get much sleep that night, mostly he watched her. The events from that night running through his head, the fear and guilt eating at him. Anytime he saw her shifting around, her breathing picking up to signal she was having a bad dream, he wanted to go to her, but couldn't make himself move. He had failed her, he had hurt her and he feared he would do it again.

"What are you doing over there?" Teagan questioned, as she kept her hand on his side of the bed, wishing he was laying there instead of sitting in the chair. But she didn't blame him for wanting to be away from her, not after the things she said, and the things that she did.

Isaac didn't say anything, he couldn't; what was there to say? Nothing he said could take away what he did. It took him all night to finally admit to himself that in that moment; the moment he had his fingers wrapped around her wrists, he actually wanted to hurt her.

For that one moment, his anger slipped and he almost did something he could never take back. She was right the night before when she said his father would be proud. There was more than one occasion that his father had yelled at him; telling him that he would amount to nothing, that he was worthless and no better than him.

He closed his eyes, and swallowed the lump in his throat, as he remembered the day his father told him that one day he would turn out exactly like him. He yelled at him; telling him that since he had Lahey blood rushing through his veins that meant they were the same. He could fight it all he wanted, but one day he would turn into a hateful bastard like his old man. His father told him once that day came, then he would understand; he would understand how the world really was. That there was no goodness in the world, only pain and suffering. That day he would understand that he didn't deserve anything good, and he was right.

Even after all the years of his father's abuse, he still tried to stay positive. Before his mother passed away, she use to tell him he was destined for greatness, that he deserved a better life than he had and one day he would get it, and he always believed her, even in the darkest days, a small part of him still believed and he held on to that.

Then Teagan happened. The girl he dreamed about for so long was back, and even better, he got the girl. She was all his and deeply in love with him. But all it took was one mistake, one slip and he turned into his father, the one thing he never wanted to do.

"Isaac..." Teagan softly said, getting his attention. As he opened his eyes to look at her, she continued, "I know I messed up bad last night and I'm so sorry about that. I did and said things, I never should have, but can you- could you please just forget what I said, just for now and hold me? I just need you to hold me."

Isaac shook his head as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, then dropped his head in his hands. It's not that he didn't want to, it's just he didn't feel like he deserved it anymore.

He heard her sit up in the bed, leaning back against the headboard. He didn't even have to look to know that she was crying, he could smell it. He ran his hand through his hair, as he fought the urge to run to her. Truthfully, he needed her just as badly as she needed him right now.

But when he heard her whisper, 'it's always you and me', he couldn't stop himself anymore. He quickly stood up from the chair and was at the bed within seconds.

Teagan looked up at him in surprise, her mouth slightly parted, which he took advantage of as he quickly pressed his lips against her for a heated kiss. She grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him on to the bed and closer to her, as the two laid out on the bed.

"I'm sorry. Isaac, I'm so sorry." She mumbled out against his lips, before she moved her lips against his again. She slide her hands up his chest and then moved them to the back of his neck. One hand was gripping the back of his shirt, holding on to him, as the other hand went into his hair, grabbing on to his curls.

"Shh, it's okay." He whispered back, as he rested his hands on the mattress on either side of her, afraid to touch her too much, of being too rough with her while needing her so badly.

"It's not. It's not okay." Teagan said back, as she pulled back a little to look at him. She rested her hands on either side of his face as she leaned forward to rest her forehead against his. She took a deep breath, then slowly released it, before softly saying,"I know things are bad now, worst than we could have ever imagined, and I know I'm getting worst every day. I'm not getting better, Isaac, and I know there is a really good chance I'll never be better. And because of that I know you have a million of reasons to leave me..."

"I'm not going anywhere. I wouldn't leave you, Teagan." Isaac interrupted when she paused. He pulled back to look at her, wiping the tears from her cheeks, as he continued,"The only thing you have ever done is give me a million of reason to love you, and I'll never stop. I'll always love you."

"It's not safe for you. I'm not safe for you." She pointed out. She looked up at him with sad, broken, eyes, as she whispered,"I just want to feel safe again. But how can I? When I'm so scared to leave this bed; this room, scared of what I'm going to do next."

"You get inside your safety bubble." Isaac stated, as a small smile appeared on his face when a happy memory from his past crossed his mind.

"What?" Teagan asked confused.

"Hang on." Isaac said, as he raised up some to grab the sheet and comforter on her bed, pulling it over their heads. They were now covered from head to toe, safely tucked away. He softly smiled at her, as he brushed a piece of hair from her face, then said,"It's something Camden use to do with me. Anytime I got scared about something, he would pull the covers over my head. He said it was my safety bubble, when ever I was in it, nothing could touch me." He paused for a moment, when she laid her hand on the side of his face, knowing it wasn't always easy to talk about his past. The good times and the bad.

"This is your safety bubble, Teagan. In here you are safe, nothing can get you in here, nothing can hurt you." His eyes flickered over to her hand, seeing the bruise on her wrist from him. He took a shaky breath, as he softly added,"I can't hurt you in here."

"Hey..." Teagan began to say when she saw the look on his face. She laid her other hand on his face, forcing him to look at her, as she said,"You didn't hurt me. You did what you had to. If you didn't stop me, I would have really hurt you. You have no idea what all she wanted me to do to you, and if you didn't get the knife or the piece of glass from my hand, I don't know if I could have stopped myself." She felt tears fall down her face, remembering what all her mother was yelling at her to do.

The things she did do was bad enough, but if it was up to her mother, they would have been worst. She slowly shook her head, as she continued,"I wanted to stop. God knows I wanted to stop so badly, the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you, but she was too strong and I just- I couldn't fight it."

"Teagan..." He softly said, planning to tell her exactly what happened. He wanted to tell her that it wasn't about stopping her, maybe at first it was, but toward the end it was cause he wanted to hurt her, that for a moment he gave in to that anger and that was why he couldn't forgive himself.

But when she looked at him with those trusting eyes, his voice trailed off. He was afraid to tell her, afraid to say the words out loud and have her never look at him the same.

"Hmm?" She questioned, when he didn't say anything else.

"I love you." He breathed out. "No matter what happens, I need you to know that, I need you to always remember that I love you."

"I love you, too." She whispered, as she leaned forward to press her lips against his for a gentle kiss.

After the kiss, he laid on his back as she laid her head on his chest, cuddling into him and tried not to feel disappointed when he didn't wrap an arm around her like he used to do.

After the things she yelled at him the night before she couldn't blame him, but it did disappoint her. It was like he was there with her, but he wasn't really. His mind seemed like it was a million miles away, she just wished she knew what he was thinking. But mostly, she just wished he would hold her instead of thinking about the bad.

**~(Later that day)~**

Parking her car in the almost empty parking lot of a large park at the edge of the woods, Avery got out and locked up her car before putting her ear buds in and stretching before her run.

Her running shoes pounded against the pavement as she took off down one of the paved trails, winding in and around picnic areas and past some playground equipment.

The sun was going to be setting soon, this was time of day she loved to go for a run. Ever since all of the so called animal attacks from the prior year, no one really came to that park during the evening.

Breathing in the cool, fresh air she smiled to herself for the temporary distraction from her current problems. She always reminded Scott to just breathe when things seemed like too much to handle, which was some advice of her own she was trying to take.

Not only was she scared for Teagan and everything that was happening to her, she was also dealing with her own nightmares and hallucinations, which seemed to be growing more intense every day.

She was able to push those thoughts from her head for a moment while the runners high kicked in and she pushed herself even harder, but her peaceful moment was broken when one of her favorite songs started to break up in her headphones.

Coming to a stop she pulled her iPod from the arm band she used for exercising and looked at it as she tried to skip to the next song but she was met by static, which made no sense, it wasn't like she was listening to the radio.

A high pitched squeal shook the ear buds until she cried out in pain and grabbed onto the cord jerking them out.

"Ahh!" She breathed in pain as she dropped her iPod to the ground and rubbed her ears.

_"Ew! A, stop it!"_

The sound of a little girls voice filled her ears as her ponytail hit the sides of her face and neck as she looked side to the side, thinking she couldn't have just heard that; she was alone in the park.

_"Stop, you're going to hurt it!"_

Avery started to bend down and pick her iPod up to head home, but she stopped dead in her tracks as she heard another little girl's voice ring through the air, "It's dead, Teagan… you can't hurt something that's already dead."

Her breathing was shaky as she pushed through some brush off the side of the trail, every step she took a sick feeling rising inside of her. Every fiber of her being was telling her to turn back, that she didn't want to see what was just ahead. But her feet would only move in one direction.

Knocking a large spider web out of the way with a stick, she pushed her way into some heavy shrubbery and past a large tree, hearing more voices she looked up and gasped at what she saw.

Two girls who looked to be about ten or eleven years old; one blonde and one brunette. The blonde was pushing the small lifeless body of a dead bird around with a large stick, while the darker haired friend stood back with a look of horror on her face.

Avery's eyes drifted up to the sky to where it was no longer a sunset, but midday sun, she could even feel the warmth on her skin. Looking back to the children even more terrified and confused than before she started to speak but then stopped as she gasped again.

"Teagan?" Avery breathed as her eyes locked on the small, childish face of her best friend. But the girl didn't respond as she took a shaky step towards the young blonde.

Swallowing hard Avery walked closer until she realized the pre-teen girls were herself and Teagan.

"I think it's a raven…" Young Avery nonchalantly said as she poked the body with the stick again.

Teagan pulled her straight dark hair over one of her shoulders as she said, "You're doing that thing again… you know, that thing you keep doing where you scare me…"

But her friend didn't seem to hear her as she looked around with a thoughtful expression and said, "Remember that poem we had to read in Ms. Jacobson's class, the one by Edgar Allen Poe. It makes me think of that."

Swallowing hard Teagan frowned, ever since the sudden, unexpected death of her best friend's mom, Avery had been different; seemed a little darker and had been having trouble dealing with the loss.

Teagan's mother had encouraged her to be there for her friend, after talking to Avery's dad Richard, Lisa had learned that according the therapist he'd sent her too –Avery was having trouble expressing the pain she was in, instead of expressing it and mourning her mother's loss, the young girl had internalized everything and only showed her emotions in fits of rage that seemed to strike out of nowhere.

"Avery, I think we should go back and find my parents… they said it would be time to eat soon." Teagan said, trying to keep her friend from spacing out and losing touch again.

"It's sort of beautiful." Avery said, her voice monotone.

Crossing her arms over her chest and shivering even in the warm afternoon sun, young Teagan firmly said, "Like you said, it's dead, A…"

"I want a tattoo of a raven." Avery continued to speak as she poked the bird again, seeming to drift farther away with every passing second.

"A tattoo?" she breathed, feeling like she needed to walk on eggshells around her now. A feeling she hadn't felt in almost a year, it had been well over a year since Avery's mom had passed and these fits she'd had were becoming less and less frequent.

Kneeling down and getting a closer look at it, Avery glanced up at Teagan and said, "That cat you and your mom are always feeding in the park… it's what killed the bird." Quietly she muttered, "I hate cats."

"Come on." Teagan said as she grabbed onto her friends arm and tried to pull her up to her feet but she didn't cooperate as she asked, "What do you think it feels like…"

"What –what feels like?" Teagan's brown eyes were wide and watery as she spoke.

"To die." The young blond simply answered, as if it were a normal conversation topic.

"I… I don't know…" Teagan stuttered out as tears started to run down her cheeks.

"I don't understand it, T. Everyone says she's still here… that if I talk to her she can hear me. But…" She paused as her voice cracked, "I don't feel her anywhere. I used to think when someone died they went to heaven, but I'm not so sure anymore. It's just like… she stopped existing."

"You're mom?" Teagan softly said, kneeling down beside her as more tears fell down her cheeks.

"Why can't I feel her anymore?" Avery asked, with red rimmed eyes as she looked at her friend, her lightly tanned face framed in an almost unruly mess of thick, blonde waves.

"I don't know… but you've got me." She tried to assure her, but she jumped back and let out a small scream as Avery quickly stood up and stabbed the end of the stick through the bird's dead body.

"Mom!" Teagan shouted, as she backed away from her blonde friend, wrapping her arms around herself and crying.

The young blonde breathed heavily as she dug her fingernails into her own arms and shook her head back and forth letting out an ear piercing scream.

"Mom! Dad!" Teagan shouted louder than before, as she took a few more steps backwards and almost stumbled but her dad quickly caught her, wrapping her in a protective hug.

"Avery, Avery, Avery… shh, honey you're okay." Lisa said as she wrapped her arms around her daughter's best friend, pulling her hands away from her now bleeding arms as she pinned the young girls arms down and hugged her, lowering them both to the ground.

Teagan clutched onto her dad's shirt and cried in his arms as her big, brown eyes watched her mom holding Avery still to keep her from hurting herself, as she repeated, "It's okay, you're going to be okay…"

When she saw her own mom starting to break down in tears over the loss of her own best friend, Teagan had to turn her head and look the other way as a new wave of tears hit her.

Clutching onto the tree next to her, Avery continued to watch the scene playing out in front of her. At first she didn't remember that day, but now that she'd relived it she was sure she'd blocked it from her memory.

That was the last time she'd had a fit like that, after she'd came out of her rage she'd seen the pain she'd caused Teagan and her parents and she swore she'd never do that to them again. So every time she'd start to feel herself slipping away she'd lock herself away inside of her head and refuse to let any emotion come to the surface.

Something she'd been doing for years now, but now it felt like she was losing that handle on her control every day. Ever since Deucalion had her reach into the darkness to draw strength for her abilities and gain more power, everything was spiraling out of control.

Finally raising her head when she realized the sun wasn't shining anymore, she looked up and saw everyone was gone except for young Teagan.

"T…" Avery breathed realizing the girl was staring right at her, when moments before no one could see her.

"You let me down, A."

Avery's eyebrows knotted as she stuttered out, "W-what?"

Wiping tears from her cheeks Teagan said, "You promised me that you'd never let anything hurt me, but that is all you've done. Is hurt me… you hurt everyone around you."

"No… I don't mean to." She argued backing away from the younger version of Teagan, never for once logically thinking this couldn't be happening.

Dropping her arms to her side the young brunette said, "You're just as bad as she is… you were born bad."

Avery made a pained noise at the words, not even having to ask who she was talking about, she already knew. She was talking about her mother, Aleine.

Taking a step closer Teagan said, "Everything, everything in my life that's wrong, is because of you. You screwed up, you screw everything up. You're pathetic."

Dropping her head and wiping the tears from her own cheeks Avery said, "I know…"

"Don't stand there and cry, fix it!"

"I don't know how!" Avery yelled back, digging her fingernails into the flesh of her arms the same way she used to do as a child.

"Yes, you do… you know what it takes."

Raising her head Avery saw she was no longer talking to a young version of her friend, she was now face to face with her 17 year old best friend.

"You tried…" Teagan said offering an empathetic smile as she took a step forward and reached down holding her friends hands as she said, "Just give in, A… you can fix this if you try… you just need to take in a little more power."

Avery's lips quivered as tears rolled down her cheeks and off her chin.

A bright sunlight fell over the pair, but Avery didn't feel any warmer this time as she looked up to the sky and saw over a dozen birds circling above them, each passing second drew in more birds until they were almost blocking out the sun.

"I can't…" Avery breathed expecting to be talking to Teagan, but now she was all alone.

"Teagan!" She shouted out into the growing darkness.

But the only sound she could hear was the thunderous clapping from all of the feathered wings.

Dropping to her knee's tears ran down her cheeks, she'd been fighting so hard to avoid the darkness in her, but now it was taking over. Minute, by minute every bit of light, and every ounce of warmth she'd ever known was slipping away.

Soon the birds weren't only blacking out the sun, they started to fly down and strike at her.

Screaming in pain she curled up in a ball as she could feel their beaks pulling chunks of her flesh away, their talons tangling in and pulling hair from her scalp.

"Avery!"

She'd been keeping her eyes clamped shut so hard that it was physically painful, and she wasn't sure her eye lids would move now even if she tried.

But slowly the cold despair she'd been feeling lightened just enough that she realized she wasn't being attacked by the birds anymore.

Cautiously, she opened an eye and saw she was still in the park, only she was back on the running trail and her iPod was lit up just an arms length away from her on the ground.

Breathing a sigh of relief she clutched onto the arm that was around her. "It was just a dream…" She breathed leaning back against the warm body behind her.

Then her eyes widened as she quickly scrambled away from the other person, scared that her hallucination wasn't over.

"Hey, you're okay."

"Parrish… oh my god…" Avery breathed out as she realized who'd been trying to help her.

Rising to his feet from where he'd been kneeling down in white basketball shorts and a plain blue t-shirt, she saw a white cord for a set of ear buds draped over his neck.

"What happened?" he asked worried as he stepped forward and continued, "Did you see the same thing as before… that came out of the darkness?"

Ignoring his question she suspiciously asked, "What are you doing out here?"

"I live near here… I come here to run because there's never anyone else here." He admitted.

"I… I need to go." She stammered turning to leave.

Picking her iPod up from the ground he followed her, "I know we don't know each other all that well, but I… I don't know, I just feel like I know you and…"

She cut him off as she sped up her pace trying to get away from the park and her hallucination, she wasn't even entirely sure Deputy Parrish was there with her, "Well you don't… you don't have a clue about me."

"Maybe I want to." He admitted causing her to come to a stop as she asked, "What?"

"I know you were just having some kind of nightmare, or something. I haven't been in town that long, but lately you're somehow in the middle of every strange thing that happens. I just… I don't know, I want to understand." He tried to explain, briefly stumbling over his words.

Her jaw dropped as she stared at him with an expression on her face like he'd just slapped her.

"Why? Is police work really that boring that you want to turn me into some sort of science project?" She snapped, thinking he must without a doubt think she was crazy.

Sighing he apologized, "No, that's… that's not what I meant at all."

Rolling her eyes she turned back around and started towards the parking lot. Immediately feeling bad for seeming to cause her more stress than she was already under, he chased after her.

"Let me explain!" He pleaded jogging to catch up with her.

"Don't bother." She breathed as she reached her car and got inside, slamming the door as he tried to talk to her.

"Avery!" He called, but she backed out of her spot and drove off leaving him alone in the park as he glanced down to her iPod and quietly said, "You forgot your iPod…"

**~()~**

After lying in bed with Isaac, inside their safety bubble, for most of the day, the two finally got out of bed. He helped her to clean up her room, carefully picking up all the glass and broken objects. Tossing away the broken pictures frames, but laying the pictures aside. She planned to buy new picture frames soon.

She bent down, picking up a frame, then turned it around, a smile appeared on her face when she saw that it was a picture of her and Isaac. She turned around to look at him, watching him as he swept up a broken figurine that use to sit on her dresser.

"Hey... Look at this." Teagan said, as she walked over to him, lightly touching his back to get his attention.

He turned around, then glanced down when he saw something in her hand. He softly smiled when he saw the picture of them. It was the one they took the night they got together. It was around the time he still needed to hide away since the police thought he had killed his father, but she came to Derek's underground lair for him.

"I remember that night." Isaac said, as he smiled over at her.

"I remember it too. I remember it was the night you told me the moment you started liking me." Teagan said, as she looked down at the picture again.

Isaac nodded his head, as he said,"The day you gave me the valentine's day card."

"I also remember you saying you still have the card, even though I have never seen it." Teagan teased, as she looked up at him.

"I do still have it!" Isaac said, as he reached behind him to pull his wallet out. He reached inside, pulling out a small valentine. It had an owl on it, and said 'owl love to be your valentine', wrote above it.

"Oh, my God! You do still have it." Teagan said with a laugh, as she took the card from his hand. She glanced over the card, seeing his name wrote out in her handwriting. She even wrote out that she hoped he had a great valentine's day before signing her own name.

"I told you." He said, laughing with her. "That was a great day, every day that involves you, is a great day." He added.

"Even the bad days?" She quietly asked, afraid to look at him.

Isaac laid a finger under her chin, lifting her head to look at him, as he said,"Even on the worst days, as long as I'm with you, it's still a good day."

Teagan softly smiled at his words, then glanced back down at the picture, seeing how happy and in love they were. "Things were so much simpler back then." She stated, as she lightly ran her finger on his face on the picture. "Well, I mean, as simple as things can be while dating a werewolf and chasing around a killing lizard; who happens to be your ex-boyfriend." She pointed out, then quietly added,"But at least I wasn't going out of my mind and trying to kill you."

"It's okay." Isaac mumbled, as he laid a hand on the small of her back, giving her a little comfort.

Teagan bit her bottom lip, looking at the picture until the imagine became blurred from her tears. Just like earlier, it felt like something was missing when he touched her. He was right there, but seemed so far away.

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, as she whispered out,"Are we okay? Are we going to survive this?"

"Of course we are. We're going to be okay." He said, as he wiped the tears from her face, hoping his words were true. She was still the only girl he loves, she was still who he wanted to spend his life with. He was just scared of what he would do next, if his anger would slip with her again.

Teagan waited to see if he would say anything else, but when he didn't, she told him to hold on. She walked over to her bed, grabbed a throw blanket from the bed, then walked back over to him. She stood in front of him, then tossed the blanket over their heads.

"What are you doing?" Isaac asked, with a small chuckle.

"It's our safety bubble." Teagan stated, as she smiled at him. "While we are under this, you are safe. You can say anything, and you're safe. No judging." She continued. She knew he was holding back something from her, but she didn't know what.

"Teagan..." He began to say, as he let out a sigh and shook his head. He wanted to tell her, but he couldn't. He couldn't speak the thoughts out loud. He tossed the blanket from their heads, tossing it back on the bed, as he turned to walk away.

Teagan quickly grabbed his hand, stopping him, as she said,"Isaac, talk to me." She turned him around to face her, as she continued,"I know you can tell when I'm pulling away from you, and guess what? I can feel when you're pulling away from me too. I know I did and said some hurtful things last night, but-"

"It's not you." Isaac softly said, as he turned his head, avoiding her eyes. "It's not what you said, it's what I did." He quietly admitted.

"What did you do?" Teagan questioned, trying to think back to everything that happened, but couldn't think of anything bad he did. It was all her, she was the bad one.

She held on to his hand, as she took a few steps back, sitting on the edge of the bed, and pulled him to sit down beside her. She turned to face him, as she asked again,"What do you think you did?"

"I hurt you." Isaac whispered, as he glanced down, looking at the bruises on her wrist.

Teagan looked down, realizing he was looking at her wrist, then moved her hands aside, sitting on them so he couldn't see them anymore. She hated seeing him beat himself over something that was an accident.

"Hey, no, don't do that." Isaac said, as he reached out to grab her hands, then quickly pulled back, scared to touch her. "You don't have to hide them. Don't make this easier on me. I deserve to feel this bad, I screwed up, I hurt you and I can't forgive myself for that."

"Yes you can." Teagan said, as she laid a hand on the side of his face. "You did what you had to do to keep me from hurting you. If anyone should feel bad, it's me, and trust me, I do. I hate myself for what I said, for what I did to you."

"It's not just that... It's..."

"It's what?" Teagan questioned, when he paused. When he didn't say anything, she reached back to grab the throw blanket again, as she asked with a small chuckle,"Do you need the safety bubble?"

He shook his head, as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs. He nervously shook his leg, as he took a deep breath, trying to get up the nerve to open up. He blew out the breath, then said,"It's-It's what I thought. Just for a moment I-I had this thought. This thought that scared the hell out of me."

"What was it?" Teagan asked.

"I wanted to hurt you." He quietly admitted. She heard him sniff and wipe at his eyes, before he continued,"It might have started with wanting to stop you, but for one, small, moment, my anger got away from me and I wanted to hurt you, Teagan. For that one moment I was him, I was my father."

"No." Teagan said, as she shook her head, disagreeing with him. She grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her, as she said,"You could never be your father. You are too good, too strong and too loving to be him." When he shook his head against her words, she continued,"You made a mistake, I made a mistake, we are not perfect, Isaac. I forgive you. You need to forgive yourself."

She raised her hands, holding them in front of him, as she added,"These bruises will fade. In a few days they will be gone. You didn't break me, you didn't hurt me. It's going to be okay."

"I'm sorry." Isaac whispered, as he looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"Shh, it's okay. You don't have to apologize. It's going to be okay." She said again, as she leaned forward to softly kiss his lips. She laid her hands on the back of his neck, her lips inches from his, as she whispered,"We're going to be okay."

"It's you and me." Isaac whispered back.

Teagan pulled back, smiling at his words. She ran her nails across the back of his neck, remembering something she told him that night in Derek's lair, the night they got together. "No matter what happens, you are still Isaac to me. The boy who gives me flutters and who made my whole world come alive with one kiss."

Isaac smiled, remembering when she told him the same thing that night. He pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, as he repeated something he also said that night.

"Teagan, stop talking." He said with a grin on his face, causing her to laugh. He leaned toward her, his lips inches from hers, as he continued,"I'm going to kiss you, but it's kind of hard to do when you're moving your lips."

"Then kiss me. Just keep kissing me and don't stop." Teagan whispered, as she closed the gap between them, pressing her lips against his. She smiled against his lips, when he wrapped his arms around her; for the first time that day, she finally felt like he was actually there with her. He didn't seem distant anymore, they were connected again, and for once since that night, she felt like they really would be okay, maybe they could survive this. They just had to stick together, no matter what.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Miss E Charlotte and I both really hope you all liked the chapter. ^_^ Don't forget to check our profiles to links to our Tumbr pages and more.**


	20. Where is He?

**Chapter 20 - Where is He?**

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><p>With a small groan Avery reached for her phone on the bedside table, she squinted at the screen and saw it was Scott calling her.<p>

She sighed, it figures, the one day she decided to try and go to bed early someone would call and wake her up.

"Hello…" She groggily answered, intending to tell him she couldn't talk that she was trying to sleep. But what he told her woke her up quicker than a shot of caffeine; Stiles was missing. He'd called Scott, terrified and cold –having no idea where he was and his phone was almost dead.

Scott said that Isaac had already called Teagan and they all needed to meet at Stiles' house.

Throwing the blankets off of her she leapt for her dresser almost knocking her lamp off as she tried to turn it on for some light, opening a drawer she pulled out a pair of black pajama pants with skull and crossbones print on over her underwear. Pulling open another drawer she pulled on a thin dark gray long sleeve jacket over the black silky tank top she'd been sleeping in.

Grabbing a pair of mix matched socks she put them on as she stumbled over to her closet and put on her old pair of converse shoes, before grabbing her phone and keys and racing down the stairs and out of the front door.

She pulled up at the house at the same time Allison had, as both girls rushed out of the cars Avery asked, "Did Scott call you too?"

"No, Lydia did." Allison said as she opened the door to the house and Avery rushed in ahead of her.

As the pair walked into Stiles' room they saw Scott facing Lydia and Aiden, and Teagan standing to the side with Isaac's arm around her, holding her close.

Lydia explained that she'd heard Stiles' begging for help through a radio speaker, and Scott filled everyone in on what his best friend had told him during the phone call.

"What the hell is this…" Avery breathed as she walked closer to the bed seeing a large pair scissors stabbed into the mattress with red strings going from the handles up to the newspaper clippings pasted on the walls.

"He uses red for unsolved cases…" Lydia explained stepping closer to her friend, and noticing Avery was in pajamas, which she never left the house in.

"Maybe he thinks he's part of an unsolved case." Aiden suggested with a shrug.

"Or he is an unsolved case…" Isaac reasoned, causing Teagan to nudge him and shoot him a disapproving look. She was terrified for Stiles' wellbeing.

"Tonight's the coldest night of the year, it's going to drop in the 20s." Aiden pointed out what everyone already knew.

With an eye roll, Avery sighed, "What is it with you and pointing out the obvious! We need help finding him, genius, not a weather forecast!"

Turning his head and shooting her a look he said, "I save your life and you still hate me?"

"You didn't save my life, I saved yours." She smugly responded.

Crossing his arms over his chest he turned with an amused expression and reminded her, "I saved you from two of the ninjas."

Avery's eyebrows raised and she started to snap at him, but Lydia cut her off, "Oh my god, A… just stop it."

Sighing she dropped her arms in frustration as she walked over and stood next to Teagan mumbling about how she'd saved Aiden from the Oni.

"What did his dad say?" Teagan spoke up, trying to keep everyone focused on what the most pressing issue of the night was.

"We didn't tell him yet." Scott admitted, glancing down to the carpet floor.

"Stiles is bleeding and freezing, and you didn't call his dad?" Lydia gasped.

"He made me promise not to. We can find him by scent. If he was sleep walking he couldn't have gotten far, right?" Scott argued, feeling a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"So we what, spread out and cover the immediate area?" Avery questioned.

Looking over at her Aiden pointed out, "I guess you didn't notice his jeep is gone?"

As he saw her expression fall he smugly said, "How's that for helpful?"

Taking out her phone Allison said, "We need to tell his dad, I'm calling him."

"We can call Derek get some more help…" Scott started to say but Avery cut him off.

"Scott, remember in elementary school when our teachers told us that sometimes when a friend asks you to keep a secret for them, but sometimes keeping that secret can actually be hurting your friend? This is one of those times." Avery said nodding.

When Scott started to protest farther, Aiden said, "You do realize Lydia only gets these feelings when someone is about to die, right?"

"Don't call him, we can't give news like this over the phone." Teagan pointed out as she leaned in against Isaac's side farther.

"The station is like five minutes away… we'll just go there." Isaac agreed with his girlfriend.

Avery and Scott looked at each other and nodded, both silently agreeing to the plan.

"We'll catch up." Lydia said as she looked around, "there is something here, I can feel it…"

"Yeah, evidence of total insanity."

Everyone looked at Isaac as he spoke and Scott quietly added, "We can figure out what's wrong with him, after we find a way to keep him from freezing to death."

"I'll stay with you." Allison said as she reached down and gave Lydia's hand a squeeze.

**~()~**

Scott glanced over to Avery from the passenger seat of her car as she sped around a car in the lane just in front of them.

His eyes fell to the side mirror where he saw Teagan's car also whipping around the side of the other vehicle Avery had just blew past.

Barely stopping for any lights and breezing past every single stop sign, Avery and Scott managed to make it to the police station first.

"Avery!" Scott yelled jumping out of her car and racing after her as she was already going into the station.

Her eyes scanned the room where she saw a very concerned looking Deputy Parrish stand up and start to ask her what was wrong.

"Where's the sheriff?" She asked cutting him off.

"In his office, are you okay?" Parrish asked her as he saw Scott run into the building and grab Avery's arm as he tried to tell her they needed to wait for the others.

Just as he started over towards the teen, he looked up to see Avery's friend Teagan jerk the door open to the station, hitting Isaac right in the face with it.

"Isaac!" She squealed as he stepped back groaning in pain, her voice echoed through the nearly empty station as she began spilling one apology after the next.

Shaking his head and knowing she didn't mean to hurt him, she was just rushing to catch up with Avery, rubbed his head and said, "It's okay, just go…"

Hearing all of the commotion the sheriff came out of his office to see what was happening, Scott explained the phone call from Stiles.

The teens watched as tears welled up in his eyes for a few moments before he managed to pull himself together, he needed to remain professional and calm for his son.

Turning his attention to the young deputy who'd stood by and listened to the entire thing the sheriff said, "Parrish, let's get an APB out on a blue 1980 CJ-5 Jeep."

"On it, sir." Parrish responded as he quickly made his way back over to the desk.

As the sheriff instructed another officer to gather a list of industrial basements in the town, Teagan looked over and saw Deputy Parrish hurriedly typing on a keyboard to a desktop computer. Then her dark brown eyes landed on her best friend as Avery watched him for a few moments before turning her attention back to the sheriff.

Since Scott was the one who'd gotten the phone call from his son, Sheriff Stilinski took Scott into his office to get the entire phone conversation word for word, he knew even the smallest detail could mean the difference between life and death for Stiles.

"If he's out there, between us and all of the cops… we're gonna find him." Isaac said, wrapping an arm around Teagan and offering Avery a smile. He could feel their anxiety in the air around him.

"I know." Teagan nodded, but when she looked to Avery she saw her watching Parrish again as he looked up from his desk to the blonde teen.

Turning her attention away from his green eyes, Avery asked, "So when we get the list of basements, we'll all split up right?"

"Actually…" Teagan said, as she glanced around and said, "I think one of us should stay here, keep everyone else updated. It's not like the cops are gonna call and give updates to a group of teenagers."

"Good idea." Isaac nodded.

Avery also nodded, "Alright."

"Great." Teagan smiled, as she looked over to where Parrish was watching them and whispered, "You stay here."

Avery looked over to Parrish and then snapped her gaze back to Teagan as she said, "No way, I'm not staying here."

"Avery…" Teagan argued as she nodded her head sideways towards Parrish and said, "Stay here with him, and call us when you hear something."

Isaac looked between the girls as they whisper-yelled at each other.

Realizing exactly why her best friend wanted her to stay behind Avery pointed at the deputy who was still watching them as she quietly whispered, "I'm not staying him, you stay here with him."

Teagan also pointed at him as she quietly said, "I don't want to stay here with him."

The young officer looked at the teen trio with a confused expression as the girls pointed at him and appeared to be arguing about something.

Looking between the friends and then back over to Parrish, Isaac spoke a bit too loudly as he announced, "Well, I don't want to stay with him either."

Hearing what he'd said Parrish's forehead lined with confusion as he stood up from his seat and asked, "Wait… what?"

"Great!" Avery exclaimed as she dramatically threw her arms and dropped them to her sides at realizing he'd been watching them.

But before they could say anything else, the sheriff and Scott came out of his office with paper copies of Scott's statement and started to distribute them to the rest of the station.

As the sheriff walked back up to his son's friends, Teagan said, "We were thinking maybe someone should stay here… to keep us updated."

He thought for a moment as he said, "Stiles might try to call the station for me."

"So then someone definitely needs to stay." Scott agreed as he looked between his friends.

Avery nodded, but then crossed her arms over her chest when she saw everyone was looking at her.

"No." she asserted as she shook her head back and forth, glancing out of the corner of her eye to where Deputy Parrish was watching them. Not only did she need to be out there trying to find Stiles, but after the incident at the park earlier that night she didn't want to be around him; she realized he'd have to think she was crazy.

Motioning between himself and Isaac, Scott quietly said, "We can't stay… we need to try and pick up his scent."

"Name one good reason why I should have to stay, and not Teagan." She continued to argue with them, then pointed a finger at Isaac and said, "And the fact that she's your girlfriend doesn't count."

Teagan looked over to the young deputy who was watching them as she opened her mouth and started to stumble over an excuse for Avery to have to stay there, but Isaac spoke up, "Well, you guys dated… so he'd probably respond to you the best."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Parrish raise his eyebrows at the newly learned news, then closed her eyes and breathed out an irritation laced breath and said, "That has nothing to do with this."

"Actually…" The sheriff said looking at the blonde teenager, "He has a point… if Stiles does call here for me, if you talk to him he's going to respond to you better than any of my officers."

Realizing this entire situation was bigger than her, and that the last thing on her mind that night should be worrying about someone thinking she's crazy, she nodded, "Fine."

As everyone met up outside of the building, the sheriff distributed parts of the list of basements to his officers, hoping if everyone split up that they could find his son faster. Once they were gone, he handed another part of the list to Teagan and Isaac, before motioning for Scott to come with him.

Avery watched them leave before taking out her phone and texting Lydia and Allison, letting them know everyone was splitting up and that she'd update them all as soon as she knew anything.

Taking her hair out of the high, messy bun she'd been sleeping in she rubbed her scalp and tried to think of an excuse for her behavior at the park earlier.

"Here."

She raised her head and looked over to see he'd pulled a chair up to his desk for her to sit in.

With a cautious look at him still being so nice to her even after seeing her freaking out in the park earlier that day she slowly walked over and breathed, "Thanks…"

He nodded giving her a smile as he said he needed to take some papers to another officer, as he grabbed a folder off the desk and left the room.

Once he was gone she moved over into his chair and looked at the computer, glancing behind her to make sure no one was watching she quickly started to look for a way to search for filed police reports or disturbances.

She opened folder after folder but couldn't find a way to access the police database, but then her eyes went over to something lit up under a few sheets of paper. Moving the paper she saw it was her iPod that she'd dropped at the park earlier, she let out a small laugh as she realized he'd been snooping through it.

Wirth raised eyebrows she laid her iPod back down and glanced around the desk, opening drawers and snooping through folders until she opened the bottom drawer of the desk and saw a silver lunch box and a dark green jacket.

"Hmm…" she breathed pulling the jack from the drawer and pulling a set of keys from one pocket and a pack of gum from the other. Opening up the pack of gum, she popped a piece in her mouth and laid his jacket up on the desk as she moved onto the lunch box.

Just as she started to unzip it she heard someone clear their throat, looking up she saw Parrish standing across the desk from her with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyebrows raised.

Flashing him a smile she opened the drawer back up and put the lunchbox back before putting the contents of his pockets back in the green jacket and laying it back in the drawer too then moving back to the chair he'd brought her.

"What were you doing?" He finally asked as he walked over and sat down in his chair.

"Looking through your stuff." She admitted, like it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah, I saw that..." He said, his voice trailing off as he saw several open programs on the computer.

He opened his mouth to ask her what she was looking for but her phone went off and without even looking at the screen she held up a finger and said, "Hold that thought." As she scrambled from her chair and out into the hallway to take the call. It was Lydia saying that they'd checked the Eichen house basement because she was sure he was there, but that she'd been wrong.

After a few minutes of Avery trying to calm her down and tell her it wasn't her fault, Lydia said she needed to go, they had a few more places to check.

**~()~**

"Well that was a bust." Teagan mumbled, as she and Isaac walked out of the abandoned building. This was the tenth building they had searched, checking the basement and every floor just in case,but so far no Stiles, and the list the Sheriff have given them was getting shorter and shorter with each search.

She let out a sigh, as she flipped through her keys, trying to find the car key, but her hands were shaking so badly the keys slipped out of her hand and fell to the ground. She let out an annoyed groan, stomping her foot on the asphalt, feeling extremely annoyed by everything.

Before she could leaned down to pick up the keys, Isaac scooped them up, then stood in front of her to place the keys back in her hand. "Hey.." He softly said, getting her attention. When she lifted her head up to look at him, he laid a hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek. "We're going to find him." He added, knowing she was worried about Stiles.

He was out there, somewhere, and he mentioned to Scott that he didn't think he was alone. What if they couldn't find him in time, what if they couldn't save him?

Teagan leaned against his hand, gaining strength from him, as she said, "I just feel like we're running out of time. Where is he? Where could he be that we haven't already checked. He said basement and we've checked just about every freaking basement in town."

"Shh.. It's okay." Isaac said, as he stroked her cheek, trying to calm her down. "He's got to be in one of these buildings." He added, as he nodded his head toward the list in his other hand.

Teagan took a step back from him, turning around to run a hand through her hair, as she let out a sigh, then said, "Someone should have been watching him. Someone should have been there for him." She turned back around to look at Isaac, as she continued, "The last time I talked to him, he was not okay. Something is happening to him too, and I've been so wrapped up in my own stuff, I haven't... I should have been a better friend. To him, to Avery, to everyone. One way or another, we are all being haunted by something, and I couldn't get my shit together long enough to help anyone."

"Hey, come here." Isaac said, as he reached out to wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her toward him. As she buried her face in his shirt, he kissed the top of her head, as he said,"It's not your fault, babe. Your mom is not making it easy for you, but you're still trying your best."

"Yeah, well, my best isn't cutting it anymore." She said, as she wrapped her arms around his middle. "I'm not sure how much longer I can hold on." She quietly said. It was getting harder and harder to hold on to herself. She knew she shouldn't do it, but giving in to her mother was starting to sound better each day. She honestly wasn't sure how much longer she could ignore her pleas and do all the nightmarish things she wanted her to.

"Just stay with me, Teagan." He whispered, as he kissed the side of her head and pulled her closer to him. "I just need you to keep holding on and stay with me."

He continued to hold her until they heard her cell phone beep. She pulled back for a moment, to dig her phone out of her pocket, then lowered her eyebrows in confusion when she saw she had several missed calls from a 'unknown number', as well as several voice mail messages.

"What is it?" Isaac asked, seeing the look on her face.

"I have missed calls, but my phone never went off. Did you hear my phone ring?" Teagan questioned as she looked up at him. Wonder if maybe she just couldn't hear it while in her pocket, but knew with his hearing he would have heard it.

As he shook his head, she called to listen to her voice mails, putting it on speaker so he could listen with her. They were even more confused when the first few messages were just recording in Japanese.

"What does it mean?" Isaac questioned.

"I don't know. I know a little bit of Japanese, but not enough to translate." Teagan said, as the two continued to listen to the messages.

When they got to the last message, Teagan gasped and dropped her phone when she heard who it was, luckily Isaac caught it in time before it hit the asphalt. He looked up, seeing Teagan freeze up as her mother began to talk through the phone.

"Why do you keep fighting me, Teagan? Why are you wasting your time trying to save someone who can't be saved? You can't save anyone!" Her mother's voice said over the phone. "Stiles is a lost cause, but I can help you. Just give in already. Tuer ou être tué, Teagan."

"No." Teagan whimpered out.

"Stop fighting me, Teagan. I will win, in the end I will win, you're too weak, too worthless, to stop me. I'm-"

Isaac quickly ended the call before the message could finish. In his opinion, they didn't need to hear anything else from her. Nothing she said was the truth. He slipped the phone into his pocket, then reached out for his girlfriend, seeing she was seconds away from breaking down.

"No, no, don't say it. I know what you're going to say, but don't say it." Teagan said, as she pushed his hand away and took a few steps from him. "You're going to say she's wrong, that I'm this amazing person, but we both know that is bull shit! You have to say that! You have to." She called out. "But she's right! I'm worthless." She continued, as she threw her arms out. She looked down at the ground, before softly added,"I'm worst than worthless."

"Hey.." Isaac said, as he took a step toward her. He laid his hands on her sides, then lowered his head to look at her, as he said,"You are not worthless, Teagan. You are far from worthless. You are one of the most caring people I have met. You go above and beyond for everyone, and let's not forget all the times you have saved me."

Teagan scoffed at this comment, as she said,"You're the big, strong, werewolf. You're the one out there making a difference and saving people, and I'm the one who's losing their mind." Tears filled her eyes, as she softly said,"She's right. I can't save Stiles. I can't save anyone. Not even myself."

Isaac shook his head, as he wiped the tears from her cheeks, then a laid his hands on either side of her face, forcing her to look at him. "Hey, listen to me, no matter what your mother tells you, it's not the truth. She needs you to believe you are weak so she can take over, but you're not, Teagan, you are one of the strongest people I know. You have to ignore her, you have to keep fighting her." He pulled her toward him, giving her a sweet kiss, before mumbling against her lips,"And trust me, you have saved someone. You saved me. You gave me a reason to get up every day, and for someone who has had a lot of dark days in the past, that is a big deal. You are my reason for living, Teagan."

"Then we are both screwed." Teagan quietly said back.

"I don't believe that." Isaac said, as he shook his head. "But I do believe in me and you. I believe we are going to overcome anything. I'm not losing you, Teagan." He kissed her on the forehead, then pulled her back toward him, holding her tight. "Anytime you feel like you can't go on, just hold on to me, cause I swear I will be right here, and I'll be strong enough for the both of us, okay? Just hold on to me, Teagan."

"Okay." Teagan whispered, as she wrapped her arms around his middle. She closed her eyes, trying to block out her mother's voice, and just concentrate on Isaac. On his words, his strength and his love.

He kissed the top of her head one more time, then pulled away when they heard her phone beep again. She grabbed on to his shirt for support, as she sighed and said,"If that's my mom again, please just ignore it."

"It's Avery." Isaac stated. He reached over the text message, then looked over at Teagan with a smile, as he said, "They found Stiles. He's at the hospital now, being checked over, but he's okay."

"Thank, God." Teagan breathed out. She let out a small chuckle, as Isaac pulled her toward him, giving her a quick kiss on the side of her head. "Your mom was wrong. They did save Stiles and we're going to save you too." He said, before pressing his lips against hers for a sweet kiss. "I'm going to save you, babe, somehow I will save you." He mumbled against her lips.

Teagan softly smiled, then wrapped her arms around his neck, as the two began to kiss again. Her mother was still taunting her in his head, telling her she would win, but at least for now, they were winning.

**~()~**

"Any news?" Parrish questioned looking up from the computer screen.

Sitting down in her seat she shook her head back and forth, growing more concerned by the second for Stiles.

Staring down to her phone she racked her brain trying to think of where her friend could possibly be at, she was so focused that she hadn't heard him talking to her until he touched her arm and asked, "Avery?"

"Huh?" she gasped, shaken from her thoughts as she turned to face him with wide eyes.

He opened his mouth to repeat his question but no words came out as his eyes traced over her make-up free face as he smiled thinking she didn't need any of the make up she wore on a daily basis.

"What?" She asked, looking at him confused.

"N-nothing." He said as he turned his attention back to the computer and began typing.

"You know…" she said clearing her throat, "I'm not crazy."

Looking over at her he said, "I never thought you were."

"it's just… I know how things must have seemed in the park earlier today, but…" she started to say, but stopped drawing a blank on a reasonable excuse.

"What did you see?" He questioned, turning his full attention on her with a concerned expression.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her voice barely over a whisper as she stared at him.

"During the nightmare… or hallucination, whatever you want to call it…" He paused for a moment, his voice soft and comforting as he spoke to her, "Obviously whatever you saw terrified you."

"It's not important." She breathed, thinking if she told him the truth, he'd probably never talk to her again, and she couldn't blame him. Even she was starting to question her own sanity.

He watched as she looked away from him and wrapped her arms around herself, both physically and emotionally shutting off from him and her problems. His forehead lined with concern and confusion, not only was he getting increasingly worried about her but he was also finding it more and more difficult to get her off of his mind, and he hated the feeling he got when she shut down and wouldn't talk to him.

Not able to take the silence anymore he finally questioned, "What were you looking on the computer for."

"I was trying to get a list of calls to the police, reports or whatever for a certain night." She admitted to him.

"What's the date?" He questioned, happy to have her at least speaking to him again.

"Can you really just look into cases like that?" she raised her eyebrows as she looked at him.

Nodding behind them to the empty room he replied, "Well, I don't see anyone else here."

Smiling she told him the date she was wondering about as she scooted her chair closer to his to get a look at the screen, her arm brushed against his and they both looked at each for a few moments before he cleared his throat and looked back to the screen.

"Uh, it looks like there were quite a few calls to 911 that night." He said scrolling through the list, "Some burglaries…" He continued to read down the list, "A few car wrecks…"

With raised brows he said, "Looks like the hospital called in a victim of attempted murder…" Just as he started to click the label to open up details of the case, her heart jumped into her throat as she quickly said, "No, not that one!"

Making a fist and releasing it a few times she thought of how Kate had broken her fingers in attempt to get her to tell her who the alpha was, the attempted murder that night was on her. And the last thing she wanted was him learning anything else like that about her.

"What is you're looking for specifically?" He questioned, surprised by her reaction.

"Uh…" she stuttered, as she remembered Deucalion bringing up how she'd drawn power that night to keep herself alive, "Birds…"

"Birds?" He asked, with an expression like she was joking. But he quickly saw this wasn't a joke as she swallowed hard and gave a weak shrug as she added, "Or any mass animal deaths, really."

Slowly he turned his attention back towards the computer and scrolled down until he breathed, "Huh, what do you know…"

"What?" she asked, her eyes moving back and forth rapidly searching his face as he looked over at her.

"There were several calls that night about birds not only just dropping from the sky, but flying right into car windows and against a building." He said as he skimmed the details of the case.

"Parrish…" She breathed, looking at him with a pale face as she mustered the courage to ask, "What building?"

Reading back over a few of the reports he answered, "It seems the unusual activity was all reported around… Beacon Memorial Hospital."

She quickly looked away from him, feeling like someone had just punched her in the gut.

"Avery?" He softly asked seeing her reaction.

But she pinned her eyes shut and refused to look over at him, afraid that if he looked at her for too long he'd be able to see she'd just been born with something broken in her, that she was being swallowed up in a darkness that was all consuming.

**~()~**

After taking a few moments alone to compose herself after the news that she had in fact, tapped into the darkness for energy on her own the night she'd almost died she splashed some water on her face and slowly raised her head to look up in the mirror.

But she was greeted by the badly burnt and scared face of her mother.

"You can't save him." Aleine taunted from the cold glass of the mirror.

Avery closed her eyes and tried to count to ten, hoping like usual when she opened her eyes she wouldn't be there anymore, but her mom didn't give her the chance to reach five before she started in again.

"Stiles is going to die, and there's nothing you can do."

"That's not true… stop it." Avery breathed, keeping her eyes pinned shut.

"What do you think is going to happen when all of your friends see the real you? When they realize how dark and mangled you are inside? The ones who don't end up dead are going to leave you and you will be all alone."

"Stop…" Avery whimpered, her eyes opening as she saw it wasn't her mom's face in the mirror anymore it was her own reflection, but the relief soon faded when she realized her reflection wasn't matching up with her own movements.

"Look at you… so pathetic."

Avery watched with tears in her eyes as her mirror image continued to taunt her.

"You're turning into her, that woman –no, that monster who was going to kill your friends parents, you're turning into her. You should just end it, end it now before someone you love dies." her voice echoed throughout the small tiled room, bouncing off the walls and filling her ears.

Her chin quivered as she lowered head and breathed, "I'm as bad as my mom…"

A fit of menacing laughter filled the room as Avery picked up a bottle of pills from the sink, confused as she read the label and quickly saw it was her dad's sleeping pills. The same ones she'd tried to kill herself with a couple years back.

"No… no… no." She whimpered, as she took the lid off and saw the bottle was full.

"You're worse than her. At least she had a reason behind what she did, but you? You're just bad, all you do is screw up people's lives. You break everything you touch."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she shook some of the pills out in her hand and tearfully mumbled, "I break everything I touch…"

"Nobody wants you, … and you know why…"

"No, shut up!" She shouted clutching the handful of pills into a fist as she looked back up to see her reflection was now staring at her with black eyes.

Making a noise like the air had been knocked out of her she dropped the bottle of pills in her other hand to the sink as she gripped onto it, and gasped. Thinking how hideous she looked with eyes like that, but more tears ran down her face at the realization that those dead, dark eyes matched who she was on the inside. A terrible, horrible, ugly person that no one could love.

"You're dirty… tainted…"

"Stop!" she whimpered dropping the pills into the sink as she grabbed onto the sides of her head trying to force everything back down, but she couldn't, memories flooded her mind and she knew what the mirror was saying was right, every single word of it.

"Avery, are you okay? You've been in there a while…" Deputy Parrish called out as he lightly tapped on the door.

"I –I'm fine…" She yelled.

"You think he'd want anything to do with you if he knew? If he really knew you… no, he'd flee town to get away from you. Derek left the country to get away from you."

More tears ran down her face as she feared the nightmare would never end, and for the moment it felt like there was only one way out; a thought weighing heavily on her mind as she started to gather each white pill from the sink, a pile of them growing in her hand.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Parrish questioned again, growing more concerned by the second.

Just as quickly as it had hit her, the hallucination was over. Her mirror image was back to normal, the voices had stopped and there wasn't a single pill in the bathroom with her.

Swallowing hard she took a deep breath, thankful she'd only been crying in her nightmare and not in real life. It would be easier to pretend she was okay without red rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"Avery!" He yelled louder when she didn't respond.

Pulling the door open she flashed him a wide, flirty smile as she accused, "Couldn't spend five minutes without me, huh, Deputy Parrish?"

But this time he didn't return an ounce of her flirty behavior as he pointed out, "Five minutes? Avery… you were in there for almost a half an hour."

"What…" she breathed coming to a stop near the desk they'd been sitting at.

Sitting back down in his chair he asked, "Are you losing time?"

Her eyes met his and she tried to quickly think of a comeback, something to say to not reveal how much struggle it was trying to hold on and get through the days anymore. But her mind was blank another side effect of everything that was happening. It was getting harder and harder to hide what was happening.

"Where is everyone?" Agent McCall questioned as he walked into the room from a side door, not noticing Avery. Before the young deputy had a chance to respond he continued, "We get a lead on our sword-wielding maniac?" With the end of his question he glanced down to where his arm was still in a sling from the encounter he'd had with the Oni.

"Nope, but we've got posters up all over town for your guy." Parrish responded, with an amused expression as he glanced from the 'wanted' poster on the wall behind him before looking back at his computer.

Seeing the expression on the deputy's face, McCall said, "Not exactly how I described him to the sketch artist."

Avery held back a laugh as Parrish said, "Well, you're not exactly the highest priority of the night, Agent McCall."

"What does that mean? What's the high priority?" he asked.

"The sheriff's son." Deputy Parrish spoke to him in a tone clearly showing he didn't have time to have this conversation.

"Stiles?"

Rolling her eyes Avery made her presence known as she said, "He's missing, everyone is out searching the town to try and find him."

McCall looked over at the blonde still wearing her pajamas and asked, "Missing…" then looked back to Parrish as he questioned, "What details do we have? Any leads?"

"We have a transcript of a phone call, from what Stiles said, we have reason to believe he's in an industrial basement somewhere." Parrish explained as he sorted through a few papers and handed one over to the FBI agent.

Avery walked over and sat back down in the chair next to Parrish as she watched Scott's dad read it, seeing his eyebrows raise she asked, "What?"

"These words: Stiles said, 'something smells terrible, my eyes are watering' those are his exact words?" He pushed looking at Parrish who gave a small shrug, those words hadn't made sense or seemed to matter to anyone.

"Well, that's what Scott said, he's your son… don't you believe him?" Avery asked with a jolt of attitude, that the agent chose to ignore as he re-read the paper and then turned to leave.

But Scott's mom Melissa walked into the room and said her shift was over and she wanted to help. Her ex-husband explained that he might have an idea of where Stiles was, but that he wasn't sure so they shouldn't get anyone else involved.

After promising Avery she'd call the minute they found something out, Melissa left with Raf.

The minutes seemed like hours as Avery stared at her phone waiting for news on whether they'd found Stiles or not, until finally her phone rang, she answered it and then breathed out a huge sigh of relief as she hung up.

"Did they find him?" Deputy Parrish asked, reading her expression. But before she could answer the phone on the desk started to ring as Scott's dad phoned the station to say they'd found Stiles.

Sending out a mass text to her friends, letting them know Stiles had been found in the coyote den in the woods, cold and shaken up –but alive.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave us a review if you read and enjoyed the chapter. ^_^**


	21. I'm Coming With You

**Chapter 21 - I'm Coming With You**

* * *

><p>Mumbling out a quick goodbye to Deputy Parrish, Avery quickly left the room heading for the door to go home, she knew she should go meet the sheriff who had Scott and Lydia with him at the hospital where they were taking Stiles. But she couldn't, she needed away from people, away from everyone.<p>

"Avery, wait." He said catching up with her just outside of the door.

Shivering in the below freezing weather she turned to face him as she asked, "What… it's late and I'm tired, I just want to go home."

He glanced down for a minute and then back up to her as he said, "It's probably not my place to say anything, but these things that keep happening to you… the hallucinations, losing time… nightmares. There has to be a reason for it…" He started to bring up how these were symptoms of PTSD and how maybe she'd been through something she wasn't dealing with, but she wasn't hearing any of it.

"I'm fine." She assured him flashing him a wide signature smile before adding in, "Other than freezing my ass off, so I'm going home and crawling back into my warm bed."

Normally she'd make some playful comment about him joining her, but she didn't have it in her as she said bye to him and got in her car, heading home. Where she planned to drink herself to sleep and forget about the terrible hallucination she'd had.

**~()~**

Now that they knew Stiles was okay, Isaac drove himself and Teagan to her house. Once the car was parked, he jumped out, running over to her side, as she stepped out. He knew she was tired, between the constant battle with her mom and being out for hours looking for Stiles, she didn't have much energy left. Just one look at her and you could tell she was close to passing out.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, letting her lean on him, as the two made their way toward the front door. With the keys still in his hand, he looked for the house key, then unlocked the door before helping her inside.

The two were surprised to see her father waiting for them in the living room. He stood up, making his way toward the couple when they walked in the door.

"Hey, I saw your message earlier, did they find your friend?" Paul asked. Earlier after Isaac called her about Stiles, she had left her father a note, letting him know where she was if he woke up any during the night and noticed she was gone.

"Yeah, he's at the hospital now and he's okay." Teagan answered.

"That's good. I'm sure his father was out of his mind worrying about him." Paul said. His eyes widen when he realized what he said. With the way Teagan had been going out of her mind, his choice of words were not the best.

"Teagan, I'm-"

"It's okay." Teagan mumbled, interrupting her dad. She knew he didn't mean anything by his comment. "I'm just going to go to bed." She added, as she nodded her heads toward the stairs.

"Okay, but first, how are you feeling?" Paul questioned. Before she could answer, he continued,"I saw a lot of broken picture frames and broken figurines that you had for years in the trash. Did something happen?"

"Yeah, I.. Things got a little bad, but I'm okay." Teagan said, not wanting to worry him more than she could see that he was. "Apparently there is a door opened in my mind, but Avery has a way to close it. I'm going to be okay." She continued to lie. She saw Isaac shoot her a look from the corner of her eye, but ignored it as she continued to look at her dad.

He knew she didn't want her father to worry, but lying to him wasn't going to solve anything. It was just going to make things worst once he found out that Avery couldn't close the door and Teagan was still hearing from her mother.

"That's good to hear." Paul said, as he smiled at his daughter. He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her to hug her. He glanced over her shoulders to look at Isaac, as he raised his eyebrows, as if to ask him if that was true. He let out a quiet sigh when Isaac shook his head, telling him the real truth about the situation.

Paul pulled back to look at her, laying a hand on the side of her face, as he said,"You're going to be okay, Sweet Tea." He didn't know how, but like Isaac, he wasn't giving up. They had to fix her somehow.

"Why don't you go ahead and get some sleep? I'm sure you're exhausted after running around all night looking for Stiles." Paul suggested. He looked over at Isaac, as he said,"You're welcome to stay too, Isaac." Now that he knew the truth, he hoped with Isaac by her side, she would have peaceful dreams. From the look on her face it was clear to see she wasn't sleeping well, but he knew she needed to rest. He didn't know how much longer she could go on with the little sleep she was getting.

Teagan smiled as she gave her father a kiss on the cheek, telling him good night, then made her way over to the stairs with Isaac walking behind her. The two were silent until they walked into her bedroom.

She walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge to pet Aspen; who was stretched out on the bed sleeping.

"Why did you lie to your dad?" Isaac questioned, as he rested his hands on his hips.

"I didn't really." Teagan said with a shrug, then added,"Avery does know a way to close it."

"Yeah, but she couldn't. Your mom knocked her out. That's the truth, Teagan, and he needs to know that." Isaac pointed out.

"He's already worried enough. He worries every day that I am in this world, that I'm with you, and now I'm suppose to tell him his daughter is only one step away from being locked up in Eichan House for the rest of her life cause she's going out of her freaking mind. I can't do that to him." Teagan stated, as tears filled her eyes.

"Hey.." Isaac began to say, as he walked over to her. He squatted down in front of her, reaching up to wipe the tears away, as he said,"You're not crazy. You're being haunted, there is a difference, but he should still know the truth. Trust me, not knowing, is worst than knowing."

"I just.." She began to say, as she looked down at her hands. "I just want to believe I'm going to be okay. That Avery can close that door, even if it's not true, I want to believe it cause I want to be okay." She said, then softly added,"I want to be me again."

"No matter what, you are always Teagan." Isaac said, as cupped her cheek, forcing her to look at him. "The girl I dreamed about for years, the girl I can never stop thinking about, the girl that I fell completely head over heels in love with. No matter what, you'll always be that girl, Teagan, always."

Teagan softly smiled at his words, then leaned forward to press her lips against his for a gentle kiss. Even when her whole world was falling apart, he always knew the right thing to say; always knew the words she needed to hear to hang on to herself a little longer and to keep fighting her mother. Without him she would have never made it this far.

A few hours later, she was laid flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Isaac was sleeping peacefully beside her, but even with him there, she was still scared to close her eyes, scared of what her mother would show her next.

She turned her head, watching Isaac breathe in and out, his lips slightly parted. She tried to concentrate on him and ignoring her mother's voice, but when she closed her eyes, she saw quick flashes of herself hurting Isaac, causing her to snap her eyes open with a gasp.

Realizing there was no way she could sleep any, she carefully removed Isaac's arm from around her waist, then slowly got out of bed, hoping to not wake him or Aspen up.

She quietly slipped out of the room, making her way downstairs and into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Hopefully after a few cups she would be able to stay up for the rest of the night.

She stood by the counter, watching the coffee drip, trying to keep her mind occupied on something other than her mother's voice. Once the coffee was done, she poured it into the biggest cup they had, then sat down at the small table in the corner of the room with a sigh.

She had only taken a few sips when she heard footsteps coming into the room, causing her to spin around in her chair, worried about who it could be; worried it would be her mother somehow, until she noticed it was Isaac.

He flashed her a sleepy grin, as he walked over to her, kissing the top of her head, as he asked,"What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep." Teagan answered.

"Couldn't or won't?" He questioned, as he sat down in the chair beside her.

"A little of both, I guess." Teagan quietly admitted. "I just can't handle seeing anymore bad things. I can't watch myself hurt you anymore. The things I do, it's-it's horrible."

"Just remember it's not real. No matter what she says or what she does, it's not real, Teagan. I'm okay and I'm here with you." Isaac pointed out, as he reached out to grab her hand, placing it on his chest.

Teagan gave him a small smile, as she gripped the soft material of his t-shirt. "I'm sorry If I woke you up. I thought I was sneakier than that."

Isaac smiled back, as he shook his head, and said,"I can always tell when you're gone." He chuckled, as he joked,"No matter how sneaky you try to be, you can't get away from me, babe."

"I wouldn't want to." Teagan said honestly, as she rested her hand on the side of his face and scooted closer to him.

Isaac looked at her for a moment, a smiled on his face, then he leaned forward to give her a sweet kiss. He knew it wouldn't make everything better, but hoped it would at least give her some comfort.

Without another word, he stood up, walking over to the coffee pot, pouring himself a cup. "What are you doing?" She questioned, seeing what he was doing.

"If you're not sleeping, neither am I." Isaac stated, as he made his way back over to her.

"Isaac, you don't have to-"

"Yeah, I do." He interrupted, as he sat down beside her. He reached out to cup her cheek, as he added,"I'm here for you, Teagan, always. It's you and me, remember?"

"It's you and me." She whispered, as she leaned against his hand with a small smile on her face. As long as he was by her side, she felt like maybe she did have a chance in fighting her mother. With his love and strength, maybe she would be able to keep fighting, maybe together they could win this battle.

**~()~**

After staying up all night, Teagan and Isaac dragged themselves out the door and headed for school. Teagan handed her keys over, not trusting herself to drive. She laid her head back against the seat, silently watching Isaac as he drove down the road. To be honest, even if she wasn't trying to distract herself from her mother's voice, she would still watch him. There was something calming about watching him doing the most simple things. It was something she noticed from the very beginning with him.

She remembered back when Avery was in the hospital after her attack by Kate; when they left the hospital, Isaac was driving her car and she just watched him. He had always been like her calm in the middle of a storm, which is what she told him back then, and to this day, it was still true.

Isaac noticed her watching him from the corner of his eye and turned his head for a moment to look at her. He smiled, seeing the look on her face, then turned back to look at the road, as he asked,"What is it? Do I look that bad after a night of no sleep?"

"No." Teagan said, as she shook her head. "You look great like you always do. Like the boy I love more than anything." She added.

Isaac's smile widen at her words. He reached out to grab one of her hands, bringing up to his mouth and gave the back of her hand a small kiss. "And this boy loves you more than you'll ever know, babe."

The two fell into a comfortable silence, as Isaac continued to drive down the road, his hand still holding one of hers. When they were only a few blocks from school, he pulled into a fast food drive thru, ordering them a breakfast sandwich and her a large coffee. She tried to tell him she wasn't hungry, but he told her she could only have more coffee if she ate something.

After grabbing their food, he handed her the sandwich first. She sat it in her lap then reached for the coffee, which he pulled back for a moment, before saying, "Now I don't approve of you not sleeping and filling up on coffee, but I also know why you are trying so hard not to sleep. All I'm asking is to be careful." When she nodded her head, he handed her the cup, then added, "Anytime you can fight her enough for a short nap, please take it, and if you ever need me there while trying to sleep, just call for me, okay? I'll hear you and I'll leave whatever class to come find you."

"I will." Teagan said with a nod, as she took a sip of the coffee. When she noticed Isaac watching her with raised eyebrows, she rolled her eyes then sat the cup down and picked the sandwich up; taking a bite of it.

"That's better." Isaac said with a smile, as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed for school.

**~()~**

"Hey, can I ask you a question." Kira asked as she gently grabbed Avery's arm as the teen were walking down the hallway.

"Sure." Avery said rubbing her tired eyes with the free hand not holding onto her school books.

"How is Scott…" she breathed. Only moments ago she'd tried to wave to him in the hallway but he'd turned around and walked away like he hadn't seen her.

With a frown Avery said, "He's worried about Stiles, we all are… they're going to run some tests on him in the hospital later today."

"I just don't really know what to do… I want to be there for him, but he'll hardly talk to me." Kira admitted, sadness spreading over her face as she spoke.

Avery glanced down to the floor and then back up as she reasoned, "It's not that he doesn't want to talk to you… but Scott and Stiles, they're more than friends -they're bothers. And honestly I think he's too worried and too scared to talk to anyone right now, it's nothing personal."

Kira nodded swallowing hard.

With a small sigh Avery said, "I'm the same way when it comes to Teagan, she's pretty much always my first concern and if I'm worried it's literally all I can focus on."

Kira opened her mouth to speak but before she could she saw Avery's brows furrow as she looked down the hallway of students. Turning her head she saw Derek walking towards them.

"What are you doing here?" Avery asked looking at him as he walked right up to the teens.

Kira glanced over realizing Avery seemed to now have a pained expression on her face.

His gaze fell from the blonde's face to the floor for a few seconds before he said, "I'm here because I need to know everything that happened at the power station with William Barrow."

Kira let out a small gasp as memories of that night flooded her head.

Avery's eyes widened, thinking he meant what had happened to her that night, the way she'd absorbed some of the power and her eyes had gone black again, not to mention the horrible things she'd said to her friends when she was out of control.

"Oh my god… did Scott tell you?" Avery whispered, then added, "Because it's not a big deal, I'm fine."

Shooting her a confused look he said, "I mean I wanted Kira to tell me. Wait… what are you talking about?"

"Oh…" she said with a nervous laugh, "N-nothing."

"Well, I'd better get to class." Avery breathed as he continued to stare at her with a questioning look.

As she was walking away she heard Derek tell Kira he wanted her to show him what happened, and she stopped with a sigh as she spun around and called out, "Wait, I'm coming with you guys!"

**~()~**

Once Teagan and Isaac arrived, they went their separate ways and attended classes; trying to pay attention and do what normal students did. During lunch time, they met back up to take her phone to Mr. Yukimura, hoping he could translate the messages on her phone.

"You're right. It's Japanese." Mr. Yukimura said, as he listened to the messages on her phone. "Who left this on your phone?" He questioned, as he looked at Teagan.

"I don't know. All of the messages are the same and they all say Blocked ID." She answered.

"Can you translate it?" Isaac added, as he grabbed her hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"Mostly. The man speaking is giving instructions actually." Mr. Yukimura said.

"I know a little Japanese, it sounded to me like he was saying something about a fence." Teagan said with a confused look, not sure if she was right or not.

"He does." Mr. Yukimura said, then added,"The first line is, 'All evacuees are required to stay at least 10 feet back from outside fences'."

"But what does that mean? What fences?" Isaac asked.

"The fences surrounding a Japanese internment camp during World War II. After Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were rounded up and put in camps. This man is reading instructions to prisoners upon their arrival." Mr. Yukimura to the two teens.

Teagan and Isaac looked at each other in confusion, wondering why a message like that would be left on her phone.

Teagan's eyes widen when her mother's message began to play over the phone. She had forgotten to erase that one.

Isaac quickly grabbed the phone from Mr. Yukimura's hands, and ended the call, before the message could play much further.

He wrapped his arm around Teagan's waist, hearing her heart began to race. She didn't need to hear the message again to hear her mother's words in her head. It was replaying over and over again.

Isaac looked back at the teacher, trying to get back to the subject, as he asked,"Well, where does something like this come from?"

"I have no idea. Because it's fake." Mr. Yukimura said, confusing the teens even more than before. "It mentions the name of the internment camp as 'Oak Creek'. There was no internment camp named Oak Creek in California."

Teagan let out a sigh and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out her mother's voice. Isaac heard her breathing pick up, then looked over at the teacher; giving him a nod of thanks, as began to pull Teagan out of the classroom.

Once out in the empty hallway, Teagan pulled away from Isaac and laid her head against a wall, as she tried to catch her breath. He could quietly hear her whispering to herself, as she argued with mother, telling her she won't do it.

He walked up behind her, laying his hands on her shoulders to rub them, trying to offer her some comfort. He brushed her hair aside, leaving a few light kisses on the side of her neck, before whispering in her ear,"It's you and me, babe. It's always you and me."

"It's you and me." Teagan whispered back. She said the phrase a few more times, as she took a deep breath, and slowly released it, feeling her heart rate slow down the longer he was touching her.

"Are you okay?" Isaac quietly asked, once she began to breathe normal again.

Teagan turned around, leaning back against the wall, as she looked up at him. She nodded her head, as she said,"Yeah. She's silent for now. I don't know if I should be happy or worried."

"Definitely happy." Isaac said, as he laid a hand on the side of her face. "She's sacred, she knows we can and will beat her." He added, as he flashed her a smile.

Teagan softly smiled back, nodding her head at his words and hoped they were true. She blew out a breath, as she wiped the back of her hand against her forehead, feeling sweaty and gross now.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom and wash my face. I'll be right back." She stated, as she pushed away from the wall. She turned around with a slight chuckled when she realized Isaac was following her. "Where are you going?"

"With you." Isaac said, wondering why she even needed to ask. Did she honestly think he would just leave her side after that.

Teagan walked over to the restroom door, she pointed toward the sign, as she teased,"Last time I checked, you're not a girl. You can't come in."

"Teagan..." Isaac began to say, not feeling comfortable leaving her alone.

"It's just a bathroom. I'll be okay." Teagan interrupted. She needed to prove to herself that she could do something alone or else she feared things were really getting out of control. "I'll be right back." She added.

"And I'll be here." Isaac said back, as he placed his hands into his pockets and nervously rocked back and forth.

Teagan gave him a small smile, then pushed the door open, walking inside. She walked over to the sink, turning on the cold water, then cupped her hands. She splashed some water on her face, then reached out to grab some paper towels.

She gasped when her hand wrapped around what felt like someone's arm. She snapped her eyes open, seeing that the space beside her was empty. But she knew someone was standing there before, she knew what she felt.

She took a deep breath, trying not to freak out and trying to keep her heart rate steady. She blew the breath out, knowing it had to be her mother screwing with her again. She grabbed a few paper towels and wiped her face off. She closed her eyes for a minute, taking a few more deep breaths.

She tossed the paper towels into the trash and turned to walk out until the voice started up again. She paused, hearing her mother's whispery voice calling her name, trying to get her attention.

Teagan took a deep breath, reminding herself that whatever was behind her, it wasn't real. It was never real. She slowly spun around, her eyes widen in surprise when she saw her mother standing behind her with Isaac. He was on his knees in front of her, his hands tied and tape over his mouth, and the worst part, she was holding a knife to his throat.

"My patience are wearing thin with you, Teagan. If you can't do what I say, then I'll have to do it myself." Lisa threatened.

"You can't. You need me to do it, and I won't ever do it." Teagan said back, ignoring the pleading looks Isaac was giving her. She knew this wasn't real. Her Isaac was right outside the door. Just knowing he was out there waiting for her made her realize she could do this, she could stand up to her mother.

As if reading her mind, her mother laughed, then said,"He's not out there, Teagan." She pushed the blade against his throat, causing him to cry out in pain against the tape, as she added,"He's right here. You can keep telling yourself this isn't real, but it's very real."

"No, it's not." Teagan argued, trying to be strong, but feeling her bravery slipping the more she looked at him.

"Don't believe me? Call for him. If he's out there, you know he'll come running in a heartbeat. Go ahead, do it!" Lisa called out.

"I-Isaac?" Teagan called out nervously. She bit her bottom lip, trying not to cry out, as seconds ticked by, but he didn't come running in. "No. Please, no." She whimpered out.

Lisa smirked, as she ripped the tape from Isaac's mouth. He looked over at Teagan, tears in his eyes, as he said,"I'm sorry, Teagan. I'm so sorry."

"It's you and me. It's you and me, always." Teagan cried, as her eyes locked with his.

"Always." Isaac said back.

"Tuer ou être tué, Teagan." Her mother said, as she moved the knife across his neck, slicing it open.

"No!" Teagan cried out, as she watched his eyes roll back and he fell over.

"Teagan, Teagan!" Isaac yelled, as he grabbed her arms, turning her toward him. After hearing her loud scream from outside the door, he rushed inside the room, finding her standing in the middle of the room alone, her eyes squeezed shut while screaming out.

"Babe, look at me. Hey, look at me." He called out, as he placed his hands on either side of her face, waiting for her to open her eyes and look at him.

He breathed out a sigh of relief, when she finally opened her eyes. She blinked them a few times, his face finally coming into focus. "Isaac?" She softly questioned, before throwing herself into his arms, clinging to him.

"It's me, babe. I'm right here." Isaac said, as he held her tightly against him.

"It's you and me." She cried, as she buried her face in his shirt. "It's you and me."

"It's you and me." Isaac said back, as he kissed the top of her head and continued to hold her close. He didn't know what the hell just happened, he would find that out later, for now, he just needed to get her the hell out of there.

**~()~**

As the trio walked into the building and made their way down a hallway Kira nervously looked around, remembering how scared she'd been that someone had tried to kill her as she said, "It was around here… but everything kind of looks the same now."

Hearing Avery's heart start to race he looked over at her as she looked around, feeling the buzzing in the air from all of the electricity. "Are you okay?" Derek asked her as he came to a stop when she started trailing several steps behind them.

She ran her tongue over her bottom lip and nodded her eyes stopping on a blackened trail on the cement floor as she breathed, "What is that?"

Derek and Kira followed her gaze until they saw the marks on the floor, the trio walked around the corner following the dark trail until they saw a baseball bat stuck to a row of metal utility lockers.

"Is that… a baseball bat?" Kira questioned with a confused look.

Derek nodded and Avery's forehead lined with emotion as she remembered out loud, "The night we were coming to save you from Barrow… Stiles brought his bat with him."

"I think it's magnetized." Derek pointed out as he stepped forward and tried to pull the bat from the metal but it was even difficult for him to pull the bat free.

As Derek laid the tip of the bat down on the floor, it followed it's trail over the cement before immediately latching back onto the metal surface, looking over his shoulder he asked Avery, "Were you in here with Stiles when this happened?"

With a defeated and guilty expression she admitted, "We came in the building together… but I heard Scott yelling in pain so I took off trying to find him… I left Stiles behind."

"What does this mean…" Kira questioned looking between Derek and Avery.

Shaking her head Avery turned to Derek as she asked, "Do you think Stiles somehow got hit with the electrical currents that night?"

"I don't know…" Derek admitted then glanced to Kira as he continued, "I don't know much about fox fire."

Kira explained some of the things she'd read from a book, about how kitsune can create fox fire when they rub their tails together. When both of them continued to stare at her she nervously laughed as she assured them, "I don't have any tails…"

Closing her eyes for a few moments Avery thought back to the night in question and said, "Something happened when Barrow used that live wire on you, Kira. You didn't just end up absorbing the power from it, at first the electricity like… ricochet off of you and it knocked both me and Barrow backwards, it killed him instantly."

"What else happened?" Derek asked, his full attention now on the blonde teenager.

Slowly, her memories came back into play as she pointed out how the room had practically been glowing and alive with power, it was bouncing off of the chain linked fencing to the metal light fixtures like bolts of blue lightening.

As Kira recalled more of the nights events and how she felt when she was absorbing the electricity, Avery's phone went off several times with text messages and she looked up to Derek as she asked, "Um, can you take me back to the school, please? I need to get my car."

"What's wrong?" He asked feeling her emotions weighing heavily in the air. Sadness with a tinge of stress.

"I just need to get my car, Scott's at the hospital waiting on Stiles to get an MRI. I'm pretty sure he's trying to ask me to come and sit with him while he's waiting, without actually asking." She explained as she turned and started to head for the exit, but instead of agreeing to take her to the school, Derek said he'd drive them all to the hospital.

The drive to the hospital was silent, normally Avery would have turned the radio on or something to break the quiet, but that day all she could think about was how she felt so guilty about what was happening to Stiles. If she'd just stayed with him instead of running off, she could have somehow stopped what happened; or at least that's what she told herself.

As Derek pulled into a parking space in the large lot, Kira got out of the car and admitted to them, "I don't know if I should go in."

"Why?" Derek asked at the same time Avery reminded her, "Scott's already in there…"

"Think about it, you guys are going to tell Scott that Barrow might have used fox fire created by me to jumpstart the nogitsune's power inside of Stiles…"

Kira looked between them as they both stared at her with matching impatient expressions, "Basically that I helped a dark spirit take control of his best friend."

Avery glanced down and Derek nodded in understanding, "You should probably wait here."

As he started to walk into the hospital he stopped when he realized Avery wasn't following him, he turned but before he could ask anything she said, "I'll catch up…"

He looked between the girls before slowly nodding and heading inside.

"It's not your fault, Kira." Avery said to her newest friend, as she faced her in the parking lot, "And Scott, he's not going to blame you for this."

"Yeah?" Kira breathed as she looked down and whispered, "Maybe he should…"

Avery frowned; knowing not a bit of this was Kira's fault. In her mind it was all her fault, if she could have stopped her mom sooner then her friends would have never needed to be surrogate sacrifices for their parents. No doors would have been opened in their minds, and none of them would be in this mess.

Seeing the expression on her friend's face, Kira reasoned further, "Like you said at school, Stiles is his best friend…"

"Stop." Avery said waving a hand between them, "Just stop, stop blaming yourself. It's honestly not your fault."

Kira gave her a disbelieving look.

"It isn't!" Avery exclaimed then with narrowed eyes she took a step forward and said, "But I'll tell you what you are responsible for…"

Kira swallowed hard as her eyes searched Avery's face, fearing she was going to get chewed out for something.

"The smile that was on his face before all of this stuff with Stiles started going down." Avery said with a small smile at seeing how nervous Kira had been.

"What…"

"That day when the police were at the school looking for Barrow after he'd escaped the hospital. Scott told me he was going to your house for dinner that night, and he had this… look –this smile on his face that I hadn't seen in a while. So if you're going to blame yourself for something, then blame yourself for that." Avery said offering her a smile.

Slowly Kira's expression lifted and she let out a small laugh as she said, "Wow, Scott said you're kind of an advisor to his pack, that you're the one he goes to with problems and that you always seem to have the right thing to say or a way to fix it. He was right."

Avery smiled but it didn't reach her eyes this time. That's what was expected of her, to always find a solution and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep going when she couldn't even find a solution to her own problems. She was a mess on the inside, but as long as she managed to stay in control – no one else would know that.

"I kind of want to hug you…" Kira admitted, smiling.

Holding her arms out to the sides, Avery playfully sighed, "Then make it fast, I have to go catch up with Derek."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you for reading! Hope you guys all liked the chapter. ^_^**


	22. No More Calmness, Only Storm

**Chapter 22 - No More Calmness, Only Storm**

* * *

><p>As Avery started to round the corner in a hallway in the hospital she heard Scott and Derek talking. Slowing to a stop she leaned against the hand rail and listened as Derek said, "You know how I took Cora back to South America, right? It's where she spent most of her time after the fire…"<p>

Avery looked down to the floor and made a mental note to send her friend a text soon, because she hadn't heard from her in a while.

"That's not the only reason I left…" Derek admitted.

Avery's face contorted with pain as she remembered her tearful goodbye with him the day he'd left.

"Why did you leave then?" Scott questioned the older wolf.

"A few different reasons…" She heard Derek sigh before he started to explain one of them, "I needed to talk to my mother."

"Your dead mother?" Scott asked, surprise apparent in his voice.

"She told me something that changed my perspective on a lot of things. She said my family didn't just live in Beacon Hills, that they protected it. This town needs someone to protect it, someone like you." Derek said to the young alpha.

As Scott pointed out that he still needed Derek's help on things, Avery looked down as she smiled, thinking of how far Derek had come since she'd first met him. How much everyone had grown up, including herself –not that anyone really had a choice in the matter, the normalcy they had gotten used to was stolen from them.

She barely heard Scott say something about Stiles trying to protect them, before both he and Derek flew around the corner, both coming to a halt when they saw her.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked, surprised to see her.

"Listening to your conversation." She admitted, offering Derek a small smile before getting back to business and asking, "What were you saying about Stiles?"

She'd barely gotten the words out before Scott had a hold of her arm and was pulling her with them towards the elevator, where he explained how he'd been on the roof earlier with Derek and they'd realized Stiles was struggling with something. But at the time they had no idea what was going on.

"So, what are we looking for?" Avery asked as she followed the two werewolves out onto the roof.

"I'm not sure." Scott yelled over his shoulder, "But I think Stiles wasn't just up here struggling with himself, I think he was struggling not to do something…"

Avery walked in the opposite direction from them as she searched for some kind of clue or anything to help them figure out what was going on.

Climbing up on a raised cement block she reached up on top of a fenced off generator and felt around until she felt something cloth, with a confused expression she called out, "Guys…"

Grabbing a handful of the fabric she pulled with all of her might and pulled the large open duffle bag from the top with a gasp as something hard collided with the side of her head, losing her balance she almost fell but Derek caught her and quickly pulled her out of the way as more tools rained down on the roof.

"Thanks…" She breathed rubbing the sore spot on her head as she looked at Derek realizing he was the one who'd gotten her out of harms way.

Leaning down and looking at the supplies from the bag, Scott breathed, "What the hell…"

Avery shrugged and Derek looked around, until his eyes traveled up to a low hanging power line, sparking from where it had been tampered with.

The trio backed up as a power surge made all of the lights flicker inside the building and the metal generator started to sizzle and spark. They continued to watch with wide eyes as the power line broke and sprayed sparks over the side of the building, it's rubber casing flinging the line back and forth.

"We have to get off the roof!" Avery yelled as she backed up further.

**~()~**

Several minutes later, Isaac walked into the Young house, holding Teagan in his arms. After her freak out in the bathroom, he scooped her up, taking her to the car and drove her home. Once in her driveway, he exited the car and picked her up again, usually she would argue that she could walk on her own, but after the horrible nightmare she witnessed, being in his arms was exactly where she wanted to be.

Isaac walked into the living room, carefully laying her out on the couch. He grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch, then covered her up. He brushed her hair from her forehead, then leaned down to give her a tender kiss on the forehead.

He quickly stood back up and turned his head when he heard Aspen walking into the room. Knowing the dog probably needed to go out, he went to walk away until she reached out to grab his arm.

"Please don't leave me." Teagan whispered, her eyes pleading with him. She needed him with her, she needed his strength and his love, she needed to see him with her own eyes to remind herself that the imagine she saw earlier was not real. Her mother did not kill him in front of her, he was alive and well, and right there with her.

"I'm just going to let Aspen out, okay? I'll be right back." Isaac said, feeling her loosen her grip on his arm. "Do you need anything while I'm gone?" He questioned.

"No." Teagan said, as she released his arm then tucked her hands under the pillow she was laying on. "Just come back, okay?"

"I will." He promised, as he brushed his lips against hers for a quick kiss. As he began to walk out of the room, he called for Aspen to follow him, then walked into the kitchen, opening the sliding glass door for him to go out.

He left the door open enough for Aspen to come back in, then turned around to walk out of the kitchen. He skid to a stop when he looked up and saw her standing in the door way.

"Jeez, Teagan!" Isaac called out, as he placed a hand on his chest. "How did you sneak up on me?" He questioned, with his werewolf hearing, he should have heard her entering the room.

"You can't leave the door open. If you leave the door open, she'll get in." Teagan quietly said, her eyes on the sliding glass door that he left cracked open for the dog he just let out.

Isaac looked behind him, then turned back to look at her, as he took a step toward her, and said,"Teagan, its okay. No one is going to get in."

"Why did we leave the door open? Why did we leave it open!" Teagan yelled. "She's gonna get in, she's gonna get in." She mumbled over and over again.

"Hey, listen to me, Teagan.. Listen." Isaac said, as he walked over to stand in front of her. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him and quietly cursed when her saw her eyes were glazed over and she wasn't awake. "Teagan? Teagan!" He yelled, as he shook her shoulders, trying to wake her up.

Teagan pulled away from him, taking a few staggering steps back, as she glanced around the room. She let out a loud gasp, then looked over at him as she calmly said,"She's here."

He grabbed her arm, pulling her toward him, as he laid his hands on either side of her face, yelling out her name. "Teagan, look at me, concentrate on me, okay? Don't let her come in. You have to fight her, okay? Keep fighting, babe, you got to keep fighting."

He called out her name again, trying to get her to listen to him, but when she opened her mouth to let out a loud, bloodcurdling scream, he took a quick step back, placing his hands over his ears.

He bent over, letting out a painful groan, her scream echoing in his ears, making him feel like his eardrums were going to burst. "Teagan! Teagan, you got to wake up. Please wake up!" He yelled, hoping she would be able to hear him over her screams.

As quick as it started, it was over, and the screaming stopped. Isaac lowered his hands, as he raised his head to look at her. He saw her take several deep breaths, as tears filled her eyes, realizing what she had done.

"Oh, my God. I'm sorry... I'm-I'm so sorry." She choked out, as she wrapped her arms around herself. She didn't know what had happened, last thing she remembered she was laying on the couch waiting for him to come back.

"It's okay." Isaac mumbled, as he pulled her toward him. He rested his lips against her forehead, blowing out a sigh of relief that she was awake now and acting more like herself.

He held her a few more minutes, hoping to give her some comfort, then pulled back a little to look at her. He pushed the hair from her face, as he nodded his head toward the door way and softly said,"Come on."

He kept her pressed against him, as he led her back into the living room. When she noticed he was leading her to the couch, she came to a stop, her eyes going wide, as she mumbled out,"I don't wanna-I don't wanna do that. I don't want to lay down again."

Isaac turned to face her, laying his hands on her sides, as he lowered his head to look at her. "Babe, you got to rest. You've fallen asleep twice within the last thirty minutes." He pointed out.

"Yeah and look what happened." Teagan said, as she snapped her head up. "I saw my mother murder you in front of my eyes, then I screamed so loud I almost made you go deaf. What's going to happen next?" Before he could say a word, she added,"I'm not sleeping. I can't... I just-I can't!"

Isaac sat down on the couch, then reached out to grab her hand, pulling her toward him, as he said,"Then just lay with me, okay?"

"I'm not sleeping." Teagan said stubbornly, as she sat down beside him on the couch. She didn't mean to be difficult, but was too scared about what would happen next if she went to sleep.

"You don't have to." Isaac said, as he shook his head. He leaned back, turning on to his side, as he stretched out his long frame on the couch. As he waited for her to join him, he added,"I just want to hold you."

"Okay." Teagan quietly said, as she laid out beside him, facing him. He laid on arm above their heads, running his fingers through her hair, as he laid his other arm across her waist, pulling her closer.

She threw her leg over his, scooting closer to him and pressed her face into his shirt, his scent calming her. A part of her wanted to close her eyes, allow herself to rest, but was scared of what she would wake up to. Plus there was always the nagging fear in the back of her mind of what if she didn't wake up, what if she got stuck in one of these nightmares, what would happen to her then.

The two silently held each other, just drawing strength and comfort from each other, until he raised up a little to grab the blanket he laid on her earlier. "You know what we need?" Isaac questioned, as he pulled the blanket over their heads.

Teagan glanced up, giving him a small smile, as she said,"Our safety bubble."

"Mm-hm." Isaac said with a nod, then added,"Now you're safe. Nothing can harm you."

Teagan leaned forward, pressing her lips against his for a gentle kiss. She pulled back a little, her lips inches from his, as she whispered,"I love our safety bubble."

"I love it too." Isaac said back honestly. Moments like this is what he loved the most. Just little moments where he could feel the stress and anxiety leaving her body. In these small moments, he could feel how calm she was. These were the moments she was herself the most, they were the moments he was trying so hard to hold on to, trying so hard to keep her with him.

"Me and Avery did something similar to this one time." Teagan said, softly smiling as memory of her past hit her. She saw him watching her, waiting for her to continue. "Her parents owns a cabin, in the middle of nowhere, a few hours from here. It belonged to her mother and I don't remember who's it was before that, but anyways, one time we went to it. Me and my parents, and Avery and hers, we planned to go for the weekend, but after the first night there, a big snow storm hit." She smiled, as she continued, "It was the first time either one of us saw that much snow. We woke up the next day and suddenly our whole world was solid white. It was so beautiful and peaceful, just this stillness. Like the whole world stopped in that moment just for us."

"We played it in all day, it didn't matter that our fingers were freezing or our noses were bright red, we stayed out there. We built a snowman, made snow angels, we even built a fort and sat in it for hours. I've never felt so safe then when I was in that fort, until now, here with you, in our safety bubble." She said, as she smiled at him.

"I'll do anything to keep you safe. I want you to always feel safe with me." Isaac stated, as he softly caressed her cheek.

"I do." Teagan softly said. "You are about the only thing that keeps me feeling safe, keeps me feeling grounded. You are my calm in the middle of a storm. You always have been."

Isaac smiled at her words as he leaned forward to press his lips against hers. He remembered when she told him that before, neither one knew back then how badly things would get now, but he was glad he was still her calmness, that he could pull her back.

"I just want my life to be like this forever." Teagan whispered, they lips inches apart.

"It will be." Isaac promised, as he kissed her again.

The two were silent for a while, just enjoying the stillness, the calm before the next storm hit, which came a lot quicker than they wanted. Hearing his cell phone beep, Isaac pulled the phone out, seeing that he had a text message from Avery, informing them about the test that were being run on Stiles at the hospital now.

Isaac was just going to ask Avery to keep them updated, but once he told Teagan what was going on, she wanted to go. She wanted to be there for Stiles and Scott; who she figured was worried about his best friend. She knew how worried she would be if it was Avery.

As much as he hated to do it, Isaac removed the blanket, getting rid of their bubble, it was time for them to return to the real world. It was time for the next storm, a storm neither one was prepared for.

**~()~**

Once they were inside the hospital, Scott said he was going to find his mom and Avery and Derek headed for the elevators.

Once they were inside the power blinked off again and no generator kicked on.

They exchanged looks in the dark, enclosed space, both silently remembering the last time they were trapped in an elevator was with her mother.

Clearing her throat, Avery looked around thinking it would have sounded impossible but this moment seemed more awkward than the other.

"What's going on with the generators?" Derek finally breathed as he repeatedly smacked a button on the panel next to the doors.

"Stop." She sighed.

But when he kept hitting buttons she said louder, "Stop or when the power kicks back on we'll end up stopping at every floor you hit a button for."

Sighing and leaning against the far wall she heard him mumbling under his breath, but when she asked what he said –he wouldn't answer her.

As the generators kicked on, it lit up the small emergency lights, Avery slid down the wall she was against until she sat with her legs crossed on the floor.

"I guess we're gonna be a while… should have taken the stairs." He said as he sat down across from her, leaned against the wall with his legs out in front of him.

"You know… there was a time when you didn't mind being around me so much…" She breathed, her voice so soft if he hadn't been a werewolf he wouldn't have been able to hear her.

"It's not that." He admitted, leaning his head back against the wall realizing he was hurting her.

"It's okay…" She quickly said, trying to cover her pain as she admitted, "I get it, you didn't come back for me… you came back because of what you found out from your mom."

He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off, "It's okay."

"Would you just let me talk for a moment?" He breathed out when she finally gave him a chance to talk.

When she remained silent he said, "I still stand by the decision we made… that being with me isn't healthy for you…"

"Our relationship wasn't healthy for either of us." She pointed out, her voice laced with pain and defeat.

He nodded, but it was her that he was concerned about, "I still agree with what we decided, but there's something you need to know." He blew out a heavy breath, "When you called and left that message… I couldn't call you back, Peter and I got caught by some hunters."

He heard her heart start to pick up speed as she gasped, "Oh my god…"

"It's okay, I'm okay." He reminded her, glancing around the interior of the elevator.

"You just needed to know that I wasn't ignoring you." He softly added.

"I'm glad you're okay." She nodded, looking down to her chipped black nail polish as she tried to think of what to say next.

"Are you?"

"I'm fine." She automatically answered.

She knew he'd been at her house, saw the large amount of liquor bottles her dad had cleaned from her room. And she knew all too well where the conversation was headed; to her drinking and other problems, a conversation she wasn't willing to have with anyone; especially not him.

"Do you think we can do this…" She wondered out loud, distracting him.

"What? Both of us living in Beacon Hills?" He questioned, already knowing the answer.

When she nodded -he said, "I don't know… I guess we'll find out."

"It's just… you're back and you're kind of a part of Scott's pack now, and strangely enough, I'm now also part of his pack…" With a shrug she said, "It just might be kind of weird, us both being in the same town… hanging around the same people."

Staring down to a small rip in the fabric of his jeans he nodded in agreement but didn't say anything.

The silence beckoned for her to keep talking, "Do you think we'll ever be like Teagan and Jackson? The way that after everything they've been though, they're still close friends?"

He could hear the hopefulness in her voice but he couldn't lie to her, and sugarcoating the truth wasn't something he was ever good at, "I really don't know. Being around you now… it's not easy for me."

Tucking her hair behind her ears she slowly uncrossed her legs to keep them from going to sleep as she admitted, "It's hard for me to be around you too."

A somber silence fell over the small, enclosed space giving them both time to think over how much had changed between them both.

"Finally!" She breathed as the lights all kicked back on and the elevator buzzed back to life. Quickly they both stood up and faced the door, refusing to look at each other while the seconds felt like hours until the doors opened on the first floor.

As the doors opened the lights all started flickering again, as nurses and doctors rushed past them.

"We should find Scott." Derek said, staying close to Avery as they made their way through a hectic hallway.

"I need to find Kira, we left her outside." Avery pointed out as she turned and headed for the exit.

Derek started to say something to her but a nurse almost ran into him with a med cart, as she stopped to apologize to him, Avery broke away out of sight.

Walking through the automatic doors she intended to a take a deep breath of the night air, calm her nerves and push her emotions down until she could be alone.

But as the doors opened, she could hear Kira yelling, "Get back! Everyone get back!"

Looking around her light brown eyes widened as she saw a growing puddle of water pouring from a fire hydrant that an ambulance had crashed into, and the live power line flipping wildly about, charging the water and electrocuting anyone who came in contact with it.

"Teagan, no!" She heard a familiar voice yell. Looking up she saw Isaac push Teagan out of the way before the puddle reached them, letting out some pained noises he's body dropped to the ground seizing violently from the strong electrical currents shocking his system.

She saw a look of horror and complete distraught fall over her best friends face as she shrieked, "Isaac!" And started for his still shaking body, but before she could reach the water, Avery sprinted towards her full speed ahead.

"Let me go!" Teagan yelled as Avery knocked them both down and wrapped her arms around her now sobbing friend.

"He… he's dying!" Teagan screamed, trying to fight against Avery's hold, but her blonde friend wouldn't ease her grip at all.

"If you go in there… you'll die." Avery shouted with a frustrated yell as she struggled to hold her best friend down.

"I don't care!" Teagan's voice came out so loud and high that Avery cringed and pinned her eyes shut, desperately clutching onto the fighting brunette.

Taking a deep breath Avery opened her eyes, managing to block out her friend's loud, agonized screams as she watched the love of her life being killed right in front of her.

As worried as she was for Isaac, she knew she had to focus. Find a way to stop the horrific scene playing out, as more and more people ignored Kira's screams to stay back.

"Kira!" Avery shouted as the solution dawned on her, "Get the wire! You have to get the wire!"

"Me?" She frantically yelled from down the parking lot as she saw her friends.

"You can do this… just get the wire, it has to be you!" Avery shouted, her eyes fearfully widening as she saw the water edging closer to them on the pavement.

Racing towards them, Kira had to jump onto and over a car barreling towards her. Landing with both feet in the center of the deadly puddle she grabbed the wire and took a deep breath before cupping her other hand over it and burning all of the electricity out of it.

Avery held her breath as the water finally reached them, but luckily all of the current was gone now and she finally let go of her friend who rushed to Isaac's side.

"Isaac!" Teagan screamed, her loud sobs echoing through the chaos outside of the hospital.

Avery slowly pulled herself to her feet and watched with tears in her eyes as Teagan clutched onto his motionless body, crying out his name over and over.

Scott stood and watched Kira as her eyes were glowing a dark orange color, and Derek was on the ground next to Teagan, trying to see how badly injured the beta was.

"He's not breathing…" Derek whispered, causing Teagan to cry out even louder, tears streaming down her face as all hope started to slip away from her with the realization that she couldn't do this on her own. He'd been her rock, the love of her life and the reason for her to keep fighting against her mother's hold on her. How could she keep fighting without him?

With water splashing over and into her shoes Avery rushed towards them as Derek yelled louder, "Scott, he's not breathing!"

Skidding to a stop and dropping to the ground with a small pained noise, Avery started to turn Isaac onto his back but stopped when she saw his badly burnt face and neck, the side that had been laying in the water.

Teagan screamed at seeing the marks on his skin as she yelled and clutched onto his shirt, her hands balled up in fists of the fabric, her own tears running onto his unnaturally pale face as she kept mumbling, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Over and over, barely able to catch her breath.

"Teagan, I need you to move…" Avery carefully said, as she tried to get her friend to let go of her boyfriend.

"Teagan!" Avery yelled louder as her brunette friend kept yelling about how she wasn't ever leaving Isaac, through her sobs repeating, "It's supposed to be you and me… you and me!"

"Get her back!" Avery yelled to Derek who seemed to have a shocked and helpless expression on his face.

"What are you…" He started to ask what her plan was for the essentially dead teenager, but she didn't let him speak as she yelled for Derek to get her back again.

Listing to what she said, he stood up and pulled the frantic teenager to her feet and held her back as she was in a full blown state of panic, trying so hard to get back to Isaac.

"Is his heart beating?" Avery quietly asked Scott who was now knelt down on the other side of Isaac.

"Barely…" Scott breathed his answer with a pained expression.

"A little is better than nothing." Avery said with a determined expression, one very similar to the look she'd given him when Deucalion was keeping them away from their friends.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked, but Avery didn't respond as she turned Isaac onto his back and placed both hands in the center of his chest.

"Avery!" He yelled, but she didn't respond as she closed her eyes and silenced all of the noise around her.

Focused entirely on the buzzing in her fingertips and the sound of the air flowing in and out of her own lungs she let out a breath as she drew energy from the water all around her.

Teagan struggled against Derek's hold on her until she saw the water was now perfectly still despite people running through it, the former ripples were gone.

With a confused expression and tears still streaming down her face, she looked at Scott as she saw him repeatedly saying Avery's name and trying to get through to her. She couldn't tell from where she was standing, but her best friends eyes had changed to a coal black color.

Just then Isaac made a pained noise and he was breathing again.

Falling back into the puddle Avery breathed a sigh of relief and weakly looked to Scott as he stared at her in shock.

"Isaac!" Teagan yelled freeing herself from Derek's hold and rushing to her boyfriends side, but his breathing was his only improvement.

His skin was still seared and he was still unconscious, despite her repeated efforts to wake him.

As hospital staff came outside with a stretcher to load him onto, Teagan thanked Avery for what she'd done to help, but the blonde barely heard her as she numbly looked around before telling Teagan to call her with any updates as she watched her friend go inside of the hospital, refusing to leave Isaac's side.

**~()~**

Teagan ran along with the stretcher as they wheeled Isaac down the hallway. She pushed passed one of the paramedics, getting closer to reach out and grab one of Isaac's hands.

"I'm here, Isaac. I'm right here, baby. You're going to be okay, you're going to be okay." Teagan said, as tears rained down her face. He was always the one with the hope, the one who believed things would work out even when she couldn't, but now she would be his hope. She would believe he would come back to her. He just had to.

She squeezed his hand, as she whispered out,"It's you and me. It's always you and me."

"Ma'am, you're going to have to step back." A nurse said, as she stepped in front of Teagan.

Teagan ignored her, watching as they wheeled Isaac through a pair of swinging doors. She tried to step around the nurse, but she stepped in front of her again, blocking her from walking any further.

"Ma'am, you'll have to stay out here while they work on him." She explained to her.

"No. I-I can't. I need to be there for him. I have to be there for him." Teagan choked out, as she shook her head from side to side.

"I'm sorry, but you can't." The nurse informed her. She pointed over toward the waiting room, as she added,"You'll have to wait in there. We'll let you know something when we can."

Teagan wanted to argue, but knew it would do no good. Besides deep down she knew they needed to be working on saving him, instead of arguing with her.

Without a word, she turned and walked over to one of the hard chair against the wall instead of going into a room. She wanted to be as close to him as possible, close to the doors he had went into. Her eyes were fixed on the doors they took him through. She was just waiting for the moment they would swing back open and he'll come back to her. She just needed him to come back to her.

She glanced down for a moment, seeing the bracelet he given her on wrist. She wrapped her hand around the bracelet, then placed her hands over her chest. She had to be strong, she had to believe everything would be okay. He just had to be okay.

She wasn't sure how long she had been waiting until the nurse from before came over toward her. She jumped up, meeting her half way, needing to know how he was doing.

"How is he? Is he-Is he okay?" She asked nervously, trying to read the nurse's face.

"He's stable at the moment, but he's not out of the woods yet. We'll keep an eye on him." The nurse said, before she turned and went to walk away.

"Whoa, wait, that's it?" Teagan questioned. "When-When can I see him? I need to see him. I need to be there." She added.

The woman looked at her closely, as she questioned, "Are you family?"

"I'm his only family."

"Making you his what?" The nurse asked.

"His only family." Teagan stated again, slowly.

"Girlfriends don't count." The nurse pointed out.

"I'm more than just his girlfriend." Teagan argued. She knew what they had was more than just a high school romance. What they have went deeper than that.

"What are you then?" The nurse asked, as she folded her arms across her chest, humoring her. "You're too young to be a wife. What are you? 16, 17?"

"I didn't realize love came with an age." Teagan snapped, as she turned her head back toward the door. If she could just get through those doors, she could find him.

"Look I get it, you two have a grand love affair." The nurse said sarcastically, then added,"I see it every day, but rules are rules. Unless you are family, I can't tell you more than I already have and I can't let you in to see him."

"I'm his fiancee." Teagan lied. "Does that make me family enough?" She questioned with a scoff.

"I don't see a ring." The nurse said back.

"See this." Teagan said, as she held up her arm, showing the nurse the bracelet. "This was his mother's, it was a family heirloom, and he gave it to me. This bracelet proves our love more any ring on my finger."

As the nurse shot her a look, not believing her lie about being his fiancee. To her, they were just two teenagers in the middle of puppy love. She seen it all the time and most of those couples never lasted.

"Okay, fine, you want the truth?" Teagan questioned. Before she could say anything, she continued,"It's true, I'm not his wife, fiancee or anything like that, but I can promise you what we have is something more than some young love BS." Tears filled her eyes, as she said,"He's my calm in the middle of a storm. He keeps me grounded and keeps me sane. He has always been my rock and now I need to be his. He always says I save him and that is all I want to do, I want to save him. I need to be there for him. I need to be." She lowered her head, feeling the tears roll down her face, as she whispered out,"It's you and me. It's always you and me."

The nurse opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say a word they heard a loud beeping noise. The nurse turned and rushed into the double doors along with a doctor and a couple more nurses.

Teagan felt her stomach drop, she had a feeling, a very bad feeling something was wrong with Isaac. She rushed over toward the doors, ignoring another nurse who called out to her, telling her she couldn't go in there.

She made her way down the hallway, following the loud beeps of the machine, the bad feeling she had getting worst the closer she got to the room. She peeked inside the room, a sob breaking loose when she saw Isaac inside the room. The doctor and nurses worked feverishly on him, trying to get a response from him.

When she heard the machine flat line, she ran into the room, crying out his name. "Isaac, please, please come back to me." Teagan cried, as she throw herself on his body. She laid her hand on the side of his face, as she continued,"You always come back, you have to come back. Please!"

"I'm going to call time of death-"

"No!" Teagan cried out, as she lifted her head to look at the doctor. "You can't- You can't give up. You have to save him, please save him." She screamed. She lowered her head back to look at Isaac, lightly caressing his cheek, as she whispered,"It's you and me. Isaac, it's you and me. You have to come back, you have to!"

She felt someone grab her shoulders, trying to pull her back, but she shrugged their hands off, she was not leaving. She was not giving up. He had to come back. This could not be the end of him. This was not their ending.

"You promised me forever, Isaac. Forever can not end now. You have to come back to me, please, come back to me." She cried, as she laid her head on his chest. Another sob breaking loose when she didn't hear his heart beating.

She felt someone grab her again, this time she was too drained to fight back, but she still tried to grab on to Isaac, on to the bed or anything to keep herself from being pulled away. She gasped when the person turned her around and she saw it was her mother.

"Dry your eyes, Teagan." Lisa said, then added,"It's going to be okay."

"No, let me go!" Teagan snapped, as she tried to pull away from her mother and get back to Isaac.

"Look at me!" Lisa yelled, as she grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at her. "He was a monster. He was ruining your life, this is for the best. It's for the best."

Teagan shook her head as she tried to pull away from her mother, which only made Lisa hold on to her tighter. "You don't know what you're talking about!" Teagan cried out. "It's not for the best, it's not! I can't lose him! I can't!"

"Teagan, listen to me..." Lisa began to say, but Teagan ignored her. She turned her head to the side, looking at Isaac's still body. She squeezed her eyes closed, feeling tears rain down her face as she cried for him.

"Teagan?" She heard a female voice say, followed by a hand squeezing her shoulder.

She snapped her eyes open and quickly sat up in the chair she had been sleeping in. She glanced over beside her, seeing that Melissa was standing there with a concern look on her face. Scott was beside his mother, a similar look on his face, as the two looked at the sleepy brunette.

"Have you been here all night?" Scott questioned, as he took a step closer to her.

"Yeah, I.." Teagan began to say, as she glanced around, realizing she was in a hospital room. As her dream come back to her, she softly gasp, turning in her chair toward the bed, seeing Isaac laying in it.

"Isaac." She breathed out, as she jumped up from the chair and rushed over to the bed. She looked up at the machines, seeing that they were all working, then looked back down at her boyfriend. She laid her head on his chest and breathed out a sigh of relief when she heard his heart beat. It was faint, but it was still the most beautiful sound she had ever heard.

"How did you get in here?" Melissa asked, as she looked over at Teagan. She knew the hospital rules, and was surprised to see her in the room.

"I don't-I don't know." Teagan quietly said, as she straightened up to look at Melissa and Scott. She lowered her eyebrows in confusion, as she tried to remember how she did get permission to be in his room, but was drawing a blank. All she could think about was the horrible nightmare she had. The rest of the night was a blur.

"I'm going to see what the doctors say about his condition." Melissa said. "I'll be back." She added, as she turned to leave the room.

Teagan nodded her head, then turned back to look at Isaac. She reached out to carefully caress the side of his face, tears filled her eyes, as she looked at all the burns that were still on his face and body.

"I thought he'd be healing by now." She softly said, over to Scott; who had moved closer to the bed.

"So did I." Scott said, as he stood beside her. He laid a hand on Isaac's arm, trying to draw in some of his pain.

"Is he in a lot of pain?" Teagan questioned, as she turned her head to look at Scott with watery eyes. She couldn't stand it if he was in that much pain.

Before Scott could answer, they heard Isaac let out a gasp. Teagan looked back at him, seeing him move his head toward them, but still had his eyes closed. When she heard him softly say her name, she breathed out a small chuckle and grab his hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"I'm here. Baby, I'm right here." Teagan softly said, as she bent down to kiss his forehead. She saw a sense of calmness come over him, as he fell back to sleep. He still had a way to go to being healed, but it was a step in the right direction.

She turned her head to look at Scott, as she whispered,"Thank you."

"It won't heal him, but it helps with the pain." Scott pointed out.

"He'll get better." Teagan said, her voice strong, as she brushed a curl from his forehead. She kissed the back of his hand, as she added,"He'll heal. He'll come back to me."

Scott nodded his head, as he placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze, as he said,"He's going to be okay."

The two were silent for a moment until Teagan sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek, as she said,"I still don't understand how this happened."

"Something is in Stiles, it's controlling him." Scott said. He had a hard time wrapping his head about it, that it was his best friend, but he knew it wasn't really him. He knew Stiles would never do this, it was whatever was in him.

"Trust me, I know how it feels having something in you that wants you to do really bad things. It's not easy fighting the voice inside." Teagan said.

"How do you fight it?" Scott questioned.

Teagan looked back at Isaac, her vision blurry, as she whispered, "You find the one who can pull you back. Your calmness in the middle of a storm." She cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat, she turned her head to look at Scott, as she added, "I don't know how you plan to save Stiles, but it needs to be quick or it's just going to get worst. The voice always get worst and the fight gets too hard. You need to help him, before he gets to the point where he wants to give up." She paused for a minute, before continuing, "Cause once that happens, we'll never get him back. He'll never be the same. The Stiles we knew, will be gone."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you so much for reading. Miss E Charlotte and I hope you're all still enjoying the story!**


	23. Aimer et être aimé

**Chapter 23 - Aimer et être aimé**

* * *

><p>After sending Teagan another text to check on her and see how Isaac was doing, Avery slowly tossed the blankets off of her and sat up on the side of the bed, realizing she was still in the same clothes from yesterday.<p>

Laying her phone down on the bed beside her, she let out a heavy breath as she hung her head, images of the past few days playing through her mind like a picture book. Isaac almost dying, Stiles going missing again, the look on her best friends face when they realized Isaac hadn't been breathing was still haunting her.

It was that look of complete devastation on Teagan's face that she couldn't handle to see, looking down to her shaky hands she thought of how she'd gone against the promise to herself again, she'd tapped into the darkness, let it take her over to make her strong enough to help save Isaac. But now she wasn't even sure if any of that was worth it, from what she'd heard his condition hadn't improved at all.

Her gaze traveled over to the alarm clock and she wondered if any of her other friends were just sitting and staring at the time too, wondering how everything had fallen apart so quickly. Picking her phone back up she knew at least one of them had probably gotten less sleep than her, opening up her text messages she sent Scott a simple text she hoped would get him through the day, 'Just breathe'.

Dropping her phone back to the bed she groggily stumbled over to her closet and picked out a dress and shoes for the day, before making her way into the bathroom to shower and try to feel human again.

After heading down the stairs she put dry cat food down in Annabel's dish when her dad came into the kitchen, "You're up early."

"I'm gonna swing by the police station before school…" She admitted as she stood up and sat the bag of food down on the counter.

"No word on Stiles?" Richard asked his daughter, his tone somber and voice quiet.

"Still missing." She breathed as her phone went off from her jacket pocket. It was a text from Scott saying they needed to talk about what she did for Isaac at the hospital, he'd seen her eyes go black again.

"And Isaac?" He continued to question.

"No change." She answered as tears stung her eyes.

He quietly sat down at the kitchen island, not sure what else to say to her, she obviously wasn't giving up any information that he wasn't asking for.

"I'm gonna go." Avery said composing herself within seconds as she scrunched her curled hair and added, "I'm going to grab Stiles' dad something for breakfast."

It was over thirty minutes later when she walked into the police station, offering a small smile and thanks to the officer who'd held open the door for her.

As she walked through the station she saw Parrish at a desk, typing on the computer and she thought to herself that he literally must work around the clock, he was always either at the station or on patrol.

He looked up and saw her watching him, raising the hand she was holding a styrofoam coffee cup in she gave him a small wave, with a confused expression as to why she was there he smiled and nodded a greeting to her.

Without knocking she pushed the door open to the sheriff's office and said, "Morning."

Raising his head from the case folder he'd been looking over he asked, "Avery, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see if there was any news on Stiles… and I brought you breakfast." She said displaying the bag and cup of coffee.

"Thank you." He said, a little surprised as she sat the bag down on his desk with the cup.

"You're welcome." She offered a small smile then guessed, "I take it no new news?"

"Nothing." He admitted hanging his head, and staring down to his phone.

"Well, eat… you need to keep your strength up."

He looked at her with raised eyebrows as he opened the bag and pulled out a breakfast sandwich, as he unwrapped it he asked, "What is this…"

"The heart healthiest option on the menu of the coffee house I went to." She said with a small laugh, "It's whole grain… egg whites… bacon."

"Uh-huh…" He breathed before asking, "And why does the bacon look funny?"

"It's turkey bacon." She answered, holding back a laugh at his expression.

"Bacon comes from a pig… not a turkey." He reasoned as he stared at the sandwich more.

"We both know you're not supposed to have the real stuff… just try, it's not that bad, I promise." She said, watching as he took a bite and nodded but said, "It doesn't taste like bacon."

As he ate they talked about how Derek and Scott had tried but both failed on picking up on Stiles' scent or being able to track him.

Just as he was finishing up the bowl of fruit from the breakfast she'd brought him, and complaining about how the fruit should have been hash browns, Avery's phone went off from her pocket and she took it out, expecting it to either be Scott or Teagan but she gasped when she saw it from Stiles.

"It's from Stiles!" Avery exclaimed as she jumped out of her chair and raced around the desk to show him the text.

'Let my dad know I'm ok. Please don't look for me. Be back soon'

Taking the phone from her hand he continued to stare at it as he asked the question that both of them were wondering, "Why didn't he just text me?"

"I don't know…" She admitted as she reached down selected Stiles' name and hit the call button, as she clicked the speaker option on. But the call went straight to voicemail.

"He shut his phone off." She sighed in defeat.

Looking up when they heard a soft knock on the door frame they saw Parrish walking in, as he tried to keep his gaze focused on the sheriff, "Sheriff, he just needs your signature." The young deputy said as he motioned to the delivery man walking into the room behind him.

He handed Avery her phone back and stood up, as the man sat a few different packages down on his desk.

Parrish stole a glance at Avery as she flashed him a flirty smile and a wink.

Trying to ignore her, he looked back at Stilinski as he said, "It's just printer cartridges and stuff. Batteries for the next blackout."

Reaching forward he held onto the front of his belt where the buckle was as he reasoned, "Not a bad idea considering the number of electrical problems in this town."

His voice trailed off as he looked back over to Avery who was glancing down his snug fitting uniform to where he was holding onto his belt, he followed her gaze and then looked back at her as she arched a brow and ran her tongue over her bottom lip. Causing his eyes to widen as he quickly dropped his arms to the side, growing more uncomfortable by the second with her sultry gaze on him in a room with other people.

"You okay, deputy?" The sheriff asked as he looked up from the clipboard where he'd just signed off on the delivery sheet.

His gaze snapped over to where Avery bit down on her bottom lip, her eyes traveling over him again. Trying to ignore her, he cleared his throat and nodded to his boss, "Yeah… I'm okay."

Avery could barely hold back a laugh at seeing him growing more and more nervous and uncomfortable.

Without another word, Parrish turned and left the room when Agent McCall walked in and said he wanted to speak to the sheriff alone.

Avery lingered for a few moments before Stiles' dad thanked her for breakfast again and told her to get to school, but let him know if she heard anything else.

**~()~**

Teagan shifted around in the chair she was sitting in, feeling her eyes trying to close, but quickly snapped them back open. She placed her elbow on the arm of the chair and laid her head in her hand, as she kept her eyes on Isaac. Any time he would make a little noise, she would lean forward to grab his hand, letting him know she was there beside him.

She knew she wasn't like the others, she couldn't take his pain away, but she hoped she could still give him some strength by just being there. She knew it probably didn't do much, but it was all she could do.

When she heard the door open, she turned her head, expecting to see a nurse walking in to check on him; it something they did constantly throughout the day, but it wasn't a nurse who walked in, it was her father.

"Hey." Paul softly said, as he walked further into the room. His looked over at Isaac, seeing how badly he looked, then looked over at his daughter with a pained look on his face. He hated seeing her hurting this bad, and believe it or not, he hated to see Isaac in pain as well. He was just a kid, he didn't deserve it, he didn't deserve any of the bad things that happened to him in his short life.

"Dad? What are you-" Teagan began to asked, wondering what he was doing there. Until she realized it was probably cause she hadn't called to check in or been home in hours. "Oh, my God, Dad, I'm-I'm so sorry. I forgot to call you, I-"

"It's okay." Paul said, as he held up his hands, letting her know he wasn't there to yell. "Melissa called me. She told me what happened to Isaac and that you were here with him."

Thinking he was there to take her home, she shook her head, as she frantically said,"I can't leave him, Dad. He needs me, I can't-"

"Shh, it's okay. I'm just here to check on you." Paul interrupted, as he walked over to the chair. He laid a hand on her shoulder, then looked over at Isaac, as he added,"I'm here to check on both of you."

Teagan looked up at him with tears in her eyes, as she asked,"You are?"

Paul nodded his head, as he squatted down beside the chair, then said,"I know you think I hate Isaac, that I hate you being with him, but that's not the case. I'm just scared for you, Teagan." He reached up to wipe a tear from her cheek, as he continued,"You are all I have left, you are my whole world, Sweet Tea and I can't lose you."

"And I can't lose him." Teagan whispered. She choked back a sob, as she whimpered,"Daddy, I can't lose him."

"I know." Paul said, as he pulled her toward him to wrap his arms around her. He felt his heart break for her, as she cried on his shoulder. He still didn't like the fact that Isaac was a werewolf and his daughter was involved with this dangerous world that could destroy her, but he also knew how good Isaac was for her. He knew things were getting worst and worst for her, and he knew Isaac was the one keeping her grounded. He knew how much worst it could get if the younger boy was not in her life.

"He's going to come back to you, Sweet Tea. You have to believe that, you have to hold on to that hope, okay?" Paul said, as he tighten his hold on her. He pulled back a little to look at her, wiping the tears from her face, as he continued,"I don't understand this world, the supernatural one; I don't understand when exactly you got involved or exactly everything you have went through. There is a lot I don't understand, but one thing I do understand is love. The love you and Isaac have for each other."

"I've seen it over and over again, that kind of love is what everyone searches for. It's the kind of love your mother and I had, and it's the type of love we always wished for you, and because of that, I know he's going to be okay. That love is going to save him." He continued. He placed his hands on either side of her face, as he added,"You're going to save him, Teagan."

"He says I always save him, but I don't know how. I don't know how to do that." Teagan said, as fresh tears fell down her face.

"By not giving up. He needs your strength, Teagan, and I know you have a lot of that." Paul said. He flashed her a small smile, as he said,"We, Youngs, have a lot of strength, especially your mother. She was one of the strongest women I knew and you are so much like her."

Teagan bit her bottom lip, as she glanced down, any other time being compared to her mother would have warmed her heart, but after being terrorized by her so much lately, it was getting hard to remember the kind woman who raised her. She couldn't blame her father for bringing her up though, she never told him about her mother haunting her. He knew she was having nightmares and hallucinations, but she never told him what happened in them. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin his memory of his late wife.

"Your mother would be so proud of you." Paul said, as he brushed her hair from her face.

"Are you sure about that?" Teagan quietly asked, as she raised her head back up to look at him.

"You turned out exactly how she wanted you to." Paul said. "I remember the day she told me she was pregnant with you. We laid in bed for hours just talking about you. All the things we wanted to teach you, the way we hoped you would turn out. Which parts of us we hoped you got." He softly chuckled, as he continued,"That part of the conversation was short, cause I hoped you got everything from her and nothing from me. I wanted you to have her big brown eyes, her beautiful smile and her sense of humor." He paused for a moment, as tears filled her eyes. He shook his head, another small chuckle escaping, as he said,"God, your mother had a great sense of humor and when she began to laugh, I mean really laugh..."

"She'll always snort." Teagan said with a half smile, as she remembered her mother, the way she use to be, the loving woman who raised her.

"She'll snort." Paul repeated with a smile. He pointed to Teagan, as he added,"Which is something I have heard you do once or twice. Something else you got from her."

"Guilty." Teagan said, smiling.

Paul smiled back, as he said,"But getting back to my original point. That night, we said all we really wanted was a daughter who's happy and loved the way she is meant to be loved. A daughter who stands up for what she believes in, who will fight for what is right, who stands by her friend's sides and never turns her back on them. A daughter who is strong, and bright, and beautiful. And that is what you are Teagan. You are more than we could have ever imagined you to be, and I know I speak for your mother when I say we are both so damn proud of you."

"I miss mom. I miss her so much." Teagan whimpered out, referring to the mother she once knew, not the one haunting her now. That mother she never wanted to forget, but unfortunately those memories were slowly leaving her mind, as the bad memories took over.

"Me too, Sweet Tea. Me too." Paul said, as he pulled her toward him again.

After a long hug, Paul stood up, causing Teagan to look up at him, as she asked,"Are you leaving?"

"Not yet, but I'm getting too old to be this close to the floor." Paul said with a smile. He walked over to the side, sitting down on the small couch. He patted the couch cushions, asking her to come sit with him.

Teagan looked over at Isaac as she stood up. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, before whispering in his ear that she was still here; she wanted him to know no matter where she was in the room, she was still there for him. She walked over to the couch, sitting beside her father.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her toward him, as the two sat together and watched Isaac. The two were silent for a moment, until Paul spoke up and said,"Tell me about him."

"Hmm?" Teagan asked, as she threw her head back to look up at her father.

"Isaac. Tell me about him." Paul said, then added,"I want to hear all about this boy who stole my daughter's heart. How did you two meet?"

"Well, I knew him from school, but before we moved, I never really talked to him. I didn't know that much about him." She began to say. "But then we moved back and I dunno, it was like, things were different but they were also the same. Or maybe it wasn't really the town that felt different, maybe it was just me, but either way, it was like I looked up one day and there he was. There was Isaac."

She softly smiled as she thought about the day she and her father were at the cemetery burying her mother's ashes; that was the first time their path crossed since she moved back, then she thought about the day at school when she rushed into the boy's restroom during a panic attack and he was there. It seemed like anytime things were spinning out of control and she needed that sense of calmness he was always there. He thought she was the one who saved him, but he was wrong; the truth was, he was always the one saving her.

"He has been there for me over and over again. I would be lost without him. As corny as it sounds, he completes me." She added.

Paul smiled, as he said,"That's how it was for your mother and me. She brought out all the good in me." He wiped away a lone tear from his cheek, as he continued,"She use to always say the best relationships were the ones that brought out the best version of you. That's how you know its real love, that's how you know that person is your soul mate."

"I remember that." Teagan said with a smile, as she remembered all the times her mother told her to find the one who brings out the best. She would tell her, if she wasn't her best version with a guy, then that guy wasn't the one for her, and that was okay, cause that meant the perfect one was out there for her.

"Do you remember your mother's other favorite quote?" Paul questioned, as he looked down at his daughter. As Teagan shook her head, he lowered his eyebrows, as he began to say,"Uh, wait a minute, let me see if I remember how it went. It was ... Aimé et.. No wait, it was aimer et être aimé."

"Love and be loved." Teagan softly said, translating the words, now remembering all the times her mother said those words.

"Right, love and be loved." Paul said, then added,"She believed if you were a loving person, if you throw love out there, it would be returned to you. That you would be loved in returned." He kissed the top of her head, as he continued,"Always remember that, Sweet Tea. Anytime things get too hard, just remember your mothers words; aimer et être aimé. Love and be loved."

"I'll remember that." Teagan softly said, as she closed her eyes. Hearing the voice in her head whispering;'Tuer ou être tué'. She opened her eyes, blowing out a breath, as she looked over at Isaac, before whispering,"Aimer et être aimé."

**~()~**

"Feeling better? You looked a little nervous earlier…" Avery teased with a knowing and flirty smile as she leaned over the desk Deputy Parrish was sitting at.

With a sigh at himself, when he couldn't help but steal a quick glance down the top of her dress he looked at her and said, "What are you still doing here, I thought you had school." It had been a few hours since he'd seen her.

"Oh I do, but I'm waiting around to see if any new leads come in for Stiles." She admitted with a frown, but quickly recovered her formally flirty behavior as she said, "Besides… I'd rather be here with you."

"I'd rather you be at school." He tried to hide it but she caught the smile on his lips as he looked down to the desk, trying to ignore her, but if there was one person it was impossible to ignore; that person was Avery Dukate.

"Are you trying to ignore me, Deputy Parrish?" Avery teased her voice quiet as she trailed a finger across the top of his hand that he was holding a folder open with.

His gaze lingered on his skin where she'd touched him before he finally raised his head and looked at her with a raised brow as he reminded her, "We're in a police station full of other people, Miss Dukate."

The corners of her lips turned up into a smile as she leaned in closer and said, "Are you suggesting we go somewhere more private?"

She bit down on her lip and fought back an amused laugh as he adjusted in his seat and tried to not smile as he said, "I wasn't suggesting anything that would inappropriate… you're a teenager."

With a slight eye roll at his professional tone and his words, she started to let out a discouraged sigh but then a smug smile spread over her lips as she leaned over the desk even farther and said, "Is that what you tell yourself when you're trying so –hard, not think about me?"

"Avery…" He sighed, as he closed his eyes for a few seconds refusing to look up at her, "I think you should leave… go to school. I'm trying to get my work done."

Looking at her phone for the time she saw school was almost out, and had a few texts from Jared, saying she needed to meet him after school with the money if she wanted her homework.

"Are you saying you can't focus when I'm around you, Deputy Parrish?" She cooed, as her eyes scanned over the top of the semi-cluttered desk.

And just like that, she pulled him back in making him entirely entranced with her as he quietly replied, "What I'm saying, Miss Dukate… is that you make it hard to focus on anything." With a small smile he added, "We'll let you know if anything turns up about Stiles."

"Well…" she breathed, as she picked up his personal cellphone he had laying out on the desk, "You'll need my phone number to do that…"

As she added her name and number to his contact list, he said something but she didn't hear him as she saw two of the deputies leading Derek past her in handcuffs.

"Derek…" She gasped, worry spreading over her face.

He looked at her then his gaze traveled over to the young officer sitting at the desk, watching them. He'd heard them talking since he was brought into the station, and remembered her saying that she was okay the night the Oni attacked her because Parrish was with her, and only moments ago he'd heard her calling the deputy by his name.

Swallowing hard she looked down to the phone in her hand, as she saved her name and laid the phone back down on the desk, starring as the police led Derek back to a room.

"Why is he here?" She demanded to know, looking back to Parrish who hadn't missed the exchanged of looks between them. He'd looked into some records on the computer and from what he'd seen, he knew while Derek was on the run for the attempted murder of Avery and her friends that they police had posted a squad car outside of her house because they'd been dating at the time.

"I don't know…" Parrish admitted, his forehead lined as he saw how worried she was.

"Mr. Argent?" She gasped, as they also led Allison's father through the station in handcuffs.

"What is happening…" she breathed out, losing all traces of her formerly flirty and seemingly carefree behavior.

As her phone went off again she quickly replied and told Jared to wait for her by his school bus, that she'd be there soon.

"I'll see you later… there's something I need to take care of…" She breathed before pausing for a moment and picked up his phone and snapping a quick picture of her making a kiss face and setting it to his background.

Focused on her and how quickly her moods seemed to shift he started to ask if she was alright but she cut him off, "Please, don't ask me for the hundredth time since we've met if I'm okay. I'm fine."

Then as she turned to leave she called over her shoulder, "Nice phone background by the way."

"What?" He asked, as he quickly grabbed his phone off the desk to see what she was talking about.

**~()~**

After sitting with her father for a couple of hours, the two stood up and Teagan left the room for a few minutes to walk her father to the front entrance. He offered to sit with her longer and call out of work, but she told him it was okay, she would be okay alone, and she would call him later.

Once he was gone, she walked over to the closest coffee machine to grab a cup. The last thing she wanted to do was sleep; not only cause of the nightmares, but also cause she never wanted to look away from Isaac. She wanted to be right there once he woke up and she knew he was going to wake up. She knew he would come back to her.

When she heard a big commotion coming from the emergency room entrance, she made her way over toward that area. Her mouth dropped open in surprise when she saw them wheeling in the coach from her school.

She placed her hand over her mouth when she saw all the blood on the front of his shirt before they wheeled him through a set of doors to work on him. She quickly pulled out her cell phone, seeing that she had a missed call from Scott and quickly called him back.

"Teagan? Are you still at the hospital?" Scott questioned, as soon as he answered the phone.

"Yeah, what the hell is going on? I just saw them wheel in coach." Teagan said back.

"We found Stiles. He doesn't remember anything he has done lately, it's like he's in some kind of-of-"

"Fugue state." Teagan interrupted. Finishing his sentence for him.

"Right, exactly! It was like he was a completely different person. He wasn't Stiles." Scott said. She knew how that felt, there were a few times she didn't feel like herself at all.

"But he is now? He's Stiles again. Are you sure?" Teagan questioned.

"Yeah... At least I think so, I mean, he seems like Stiles. I don't know what the difference would be." Scott admitted nervously. "But he says he's himself and I believe him." He added.

"That's fine, but Scott, just be careful. They're called tricksters for a reason." Teagan pointed out.

"I will, but listen, Teagan, there's more." Scott began to say. "We found wrapping paper in Stiles' jeep. Like the kind he used to wrap coach's present. The exact kind."

"The one with the nails and bolts?" Teagan questioned.

"Yeah, which was also a thing Barrow did." Scott said, then added,"We think there could be a bomb out there somewhere, so just be careful. Stay with my mom, stay with Isaac, just stay there, okay?"

"But wait, didn't Barrow board a bus with the bomb?" Teagan questioned, remembering when Stiles had originally told them about Barrow, back when they were searching for him.

"It's at school." Scott mumbled. He looked over at the twins, as he repeated,"It's at school. The bomb is at school."

As he went to end the call to tell the Sheriff their theory, Teagan called out to him, stopping him, as he asked,"Where's Avery? Is she with you?"

"No, I haven't seen her today." Scott answered.

"Good, maybe she never went to school. I'll call her to make sure, but Scott, you all need to get to school and fast. If there is a bomb there... Just be careful. All of you be careful." Teagan stated, before she ended the call.

Without a second thought she scrolled through her contracts to call Avery, hoping and praying her best friend was far away from school. Things were quickly spiraling out of control and she was starting to wonder if any of them were going to make it out alive.

Things were getting worst and her mother's voice was getting louder and louder. She leaned back against the wall, her breathing labored as she tried hard to ignore the voice. She glanced down at the phone, her hands shaking as she tried to find her best friend's number.

She froze when she came across Isaac's number and picture. She clicked on the picture, her eyes filling with tears as she stared at his smiling face. She blew out a calming breath, just seeing the picture reminded her of what she was fighting for. She was fighting for him and the rest of their friends.

With that thought in mind, she pushed off from the wall, scrolling through her phone again until she came across Avery's number and placed the phone against her ear as it began to ring. She had to warn her best friend.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you all for reading the latest chapter, don't forget to leave a review and let us know what you thought!**


	24. Listen and Hear Me

**Chapter 24 – Listen and Hear Me**

* * *

><p>"I'm serious, I need the econ paper now." Avery said with a jolt of attitude as she stepped up onto the bus.<p>

"Once we get sat down, I can find it." Jared assured her, then asked, "You know collecting your homework at the end of the day would be much easier if you'd just give me a ride home."

"No way, if you got sick in my car… I would never forgive you." She snapped with a groan as she pushed a guy who'd ran into her over into a seat she picked up a wrapped box and shoved it into Jared's arms before sitting in the seat and scooting over to let him sit down beside her.

"What's in the box?" She asked with raised eyebrows as she picked his book bag up and started to go through it in search of her homework for the night.

"I don't know… it's not mine." He admitted, as he held onto the gift box and watched her search his book bag. "It's kind of heavy though."

As her phone rang she stopped the homework search to answer the call from Teagan.

"Hey… how's Isaac?" Avery asked thinking that her best friend must be calling because there was a change with his condition.

"He's the same." Teagan sighed as she looked over to his bed then asked, "Where are you?"

"Just picking up my homework from school. Why… what's up?" Avery asked her.

Teagan quickly filled her in on how Scott had found Stiles and he seemed like himself but didn't remember anything that had happened. Once her friend started to explain how they'd found wrapping paper in Stiles' jeep and they were worried there could be a bomb, Avery's attention went to the box in Jared's hands.

Her eyes focused on the metallic wrapping paper and slowly she realized where she'd see it before. It was the same paper that Stiles had used to wrap the box containing the screws from the prank he'd played on Coach.

Her mind drifted back to Barrow; that was his thing wrapping bombs up in pretty wrapping paper and bows.

Swallowing hard she said, "Jared…"

But before she could explain a teacher she didn't recognize raced on the bus and started yelling for everyone to clear out, But Avery grabbed Jared's arm and said, "Don't move…"

With Teagan's help, Scott had already figured out the Nogitsune's plan and alerted the authorities.

Avery told Teagan she had to get off the phone but that everything was going to be okay and she shouldn't worry. They'd called in the bomb squad and she'd call her back as soon as everything was figured out.

After everyone else was gone an officer came in to do a sweep of the bus and quickly told Jared to not even move a muscle, not even to take a deep breath before he hurried off the bus.

"Oh my god." The scared teenager mumbled feeling sick to his stomach.

"It's a bomb isn't it?"

Avery looked at him and nodded, "Made of nails and bolts…"

"Oh my god, that's even worse than a regular bomb." He said the end of his sentence interrupted by a gag.

Avery's eyes widened, "Don't you dare throw up on me. I swear to god, if you puke on me… I will kill you."

Hearing a noise they both looked up to see Kira's dad slowly walking onto the bus

"They told me not to move." Jared said to the history teacher, feeling more frantic by the second.

"It's Jared, right?" Mr. Yukimura asked, looking between the teens.

"They said, stay right where you are and don't move a muscle." He nervously stammered out.

"It's alright."

"I didn't know what it was when I picked I up." Avery shuddered, "I just… shoved it right into his hands."

"She could have killed us all." Jared uttered as he pinned his eyes shut and tried to control his breathing.

"It's alright, neither of you knew." He soothed, trying to keep them calm.

"Right now we're just trying to get everyone to safety, "Avery… is there a way you climb over or crawl under the seat?"

Looking from side to side in the cramped space she breathed, "Probably over…"

"Wait, you're leaving… you're leaving me alone?" Jared gasped moving in his seat.

"Sit still!" Mr. Yukimura ordered the frightened teenage boy.

Sitting back down Avery said, "I'm stuck, I can't get out anyway."

In reality she could have climbed over the seats, but she was the one who'd endangered Jared's life in the first place, plus a part of her felt like she should have known the Nogitsune was going to strike again.

Once Mr. Yukimura had gotten back off the bus, Jared looked over to her and said, "I can't do this, I can't just sit here like this…"

She saw his leg nervously starting to shake as he tapped his foot on the bus floor, causing Avery to scream at him to stop moving.

When he started to groan and make more noises like he was going to throw up, Avery reached up and pulled down the top half of the bus window, before she stood up and looked out seeing some police officers trying to keep the curious students back at a safe distance.

She'd expected to see large vehicles with a bomb squad label or something, but she didn't see any.

"Hey!" she shouted, causing everyone to look over towards the bus.

"I don't care if you have to call in some bomb squad or the damn army… someone better get us the hell off of this bus, now!"

Sitting back down carefully trying to not move the seat too much, she threw her head back and stared up to the curved ceiling of the bus.

"Thanks for opening the window… I needed the air." Jared mumbled beside her.

Raising her head she saw he was covered in sweat, however scared she was, it was obvious he was terrified. She considered to herself that this was probably his first near death experience.

Hearing another noise at the front of the bus, the teens looked up to see Deputy Parrish.

"Parrish!" Avery exclaimed wondering why they'd sent him instead of the bomb squad.

"Miss Dukate." He responded, giving her a small smile, trying to help her stay calm.

Balling her fists up in her lap she shook her head back and forth, trying to stay calm she was afraid if she lost control she might somehow trip the bomb and kill them all.

Her eyes traveled over the protective vest he was wearing and the duffle bag in his hand.

"What are you doing?" she shakily breathed out. Now worried that she'd put his life in danger as well.

Slowly kneeling down in the isle he admitted, "I heard you yelling."

"I yelled for the bomb squad." She said, but he ignored the comment as he looked to Jared and said, "Jared, it would be very helpful if you could resist throwing up on the potential explosive device."

When he didn't respond, Parrish said, "Do you think you can do that for me?"

"I think so." He nodded, as sweat rolled down his face. He'd never been this terrified before.

Nodding he glanced over at Avery for a moment before he started to slide a pair of scissors under the ribbon on the side of the gift wrapped box.

"Jordan!" Avery gasped, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the box. What if he cut the ribbon and it tripped the bomb?

Raising his head he looked at her surprised, it was the first time she'd ever called him by his first name. One look in her eyes and he knew she was terrified, seeming more so now than when he'd first got on the bus.

"Avery, it's okay." He assured her.

Swallowing hard, her eyebrows pushed together in frustration at the situation they were all trapped in, and feeling helpless

"You… you look really…" Jared nervously stammered out.

"Handsome?" Deputy Parrish cut him off, "Thank you."

Avery watched as he nervously licked his lips, before continuing, "For a second there, I thought you were going to say I look really young."

He paused as he slid the scissors over the blue decorative ribbon, and Jared's body tensed, before he could remind the teenager to stay very still Avery grabbed his arm, and for a second Parrish thought he saw her eyes darken for a second before returning back to normal. And almost the second she grabbed onto his arm, Jared relaxed so much he didn't even look worried anymore.

Avery on the other hand looked more nervous than she had before, like she was about to jump out of her skin as sweat beaded across her forehead. He had no idea she was absorbing the other teens anxiety to keep him still.

"If you'd said I looked really young, I was going to launch into my explanation about how I'm actually 24; and that anyone can look young if they eat right and exercise. Although, it's probably just good genes anyway, right?"

Cutting the ribbon on the box, Jared gasped and closed his eyes trying to prepare for an explosion, but luckily there wasn't one.

Parrish looked over to where Avery finally let go of Jared's arm and continuously clenched her fists and released them, trying to ignore the buzzing feeling all over her skin.

His green eyes appeared almost brighter than normal in the harsh sunlight seeping in through the bus windows as he stared at her. Letting out a small sigh of relief she slumped back down in her seat some and wiped her forehead.

The wrapping paper on the box crinkled as he slowly lifted the lid up and started to slide it, revealing the contents of the box.

Avery leaned over Jared and looked down, but to her surprise it wasn't a bomb, it was a wooden name plate reading, Sheriff Stilinski.

"Huh?" He breathed out, showing his own surprise as he picked it up and looked it over.

"Are you both okay?" He asked, looking between the teens.

Avery closed her eyes and nodded, still trying to calm her nerves and Jarred remained quiet feeling sicker by the moment.

Reaching for his shoulder radio, he told Sheriff Stilinski, "It's not a bomb, sir, but there is something in the box."

Eyeing Avery again, he stood up and went to the front of the bus placing the name plate against the window to show the sheriff.

"I'm gonna…" Jared gagged out, before putting a hand over his mouth and racing out of the open bus door behind the deputy.

**~()~**

A couple of hours later, Teagan was sitting in the chair by Isaac's bed again. When she wasn't staring at him, she was glancing at her phone, waiting to hear back from someone. The last time she talked to Avery she was on the bus they thought the bomb was on, then several long minutes later, she sent Teagan a quick text telling her it was a false alarm,but they were sure the bomb was at the police station. She told her she would inform her with more later.

When she heard the door open, she quickly turned her head, seeing Melissa walk into the room. The older woman shot her a small smile, as she walked over to check on Isaac and glance at all the machines hooked up to him.

"How's he doing?" Teagan questioned with a hopeful look on her face.

"About the same." Melissa answered. She looked over at Teagan, as she questioned,"How are you doing? Have you had any sleep? Anything to eat?"

"Food is the last thing on my mind and as far as sleep goes... I can't. I can't sleep." She admitted.

"I know you're worried about him, but you need to take care of yourself too." Melissa pointed out. She walked over to the younger girl, laying a hand on her shoulder, as she said,"I'll be here for the next few hours, I'll keep a close eye on him. You can lay right over there on the couch and I'll wake you up the minute there is a change."

"No, you don't understand, I can't sleep." Teagan said, as tears filled her eyes. "Whenever I do close my eyes, I see the most horrible things and it's getting harder and harder to hold on to myself, it's getting harder to realize what is real and what isn't."

"I'm not even sure if now is real." She softly added, as she looked down at her lap, and began to mess with her fingers.

"How can you usually tell?" Melissa questioned.

"I don't know. I just usually come out of it, somehow Isaac brings me out of it." Teagan said, as she looked over at her boyfriend. She sniffed and wiped the tears from her cheeks, as she added,"He keeps me grounded. He keeps me sane and without him, I'm-I'm a mess." She let out a small chuckle, as she said,"Although if he was awake, this would be the moment he tells me I'm a beautiful mess."

Melissa smiled as she looked at Teagan, seeing the love she has for Isaac, and after having Isaac basically living at her house and hearing him talk about Teagan; it was clear to see how much he loves her in return.

"I'm glad you two have each other, and I'm glad he can pull you back, but I have a feeling you're a lot stronger than you realize." Melissa began to say. She laid a hand on the side of Teagan's face, giving her that motherly touch she hasn't felt in a while, as she added,"It's great having someone by your side, someone to save you, but it's also important to save yourself sometimes. And I believe you can save yourself, Teagan."

As Teagan softly smiled at her words, she continued,"Now, you know, if Isaac was awake right now, he would hate to see you like this. Is this the version of yourself you want him to see when he does wake up?"

Teagan slowly shook her head, remembering her talk with her father earlier about the one you love bringing out the best in you. She knew if Isaac woke up right now, he would be more worried about her; how she was taking care of herself, the fact that she wasn't eating or sleeping much. He would be more worried about that than trying to get better and she didn't want that. She wanted to show him the best version of herself, she wanted to be strong for him.

"I don't have to make my rounds for another hour. Why don't I grab us some food from the cafeteria. We can sit, eat and talk. Then you can take a short nap. I'll be here with you, if anything goes wrong with Isaac or if it looks like you're having a nightmare, I'll wake you up." Melissa suggest. She gave her a soft smile, as she continued,"Although I have to tell you, I've been told I'm a nightmare repellent. At least that's what Scott use to tell me when he was little. He said I kept the nightmares away. I'm sure it was the same with your mother."

"It was." Teagan softly said. A pained look crossed her face, as she added,"But now she's the cause of my nightmares."

**~()~**

Deputy Parrish lowered his head he breathed a small sigh of relief, before turned to see Avery still sitting in the same seat, she was physically there but her mind seemed to be a million miles away.

"Hey…" He softy said as he walked back to where she was.

It took her a while to respond but when she finally did, her tone was oddly calm and emotionless as she said, "I should have seen that coming."

"A possible bomb?" Parrish questioned, with raised eyebrows.

Avery shook her head knowing he couldn't possibly understand, but she did feel responsible after all she knew when Stiles' surfaced again his Nogitsune side would strike.

"There is no way you could have seen this coming, no one did." He breathed, "Plus, let's just be thankful there wasn't a bomb."

Silently she stood up and started to walk away but he gently stopped her as he said, "This isn't healthy, you know? Shutting down like you do…"

Her eyes searched his face and she shrugged, what on earth could she tell him? That she pulled away and shut down because she was kind of a bomb herself and if she blew she could take people with her.

The darkness was growing and the urge to absorb and take in power to strengthen the dark side of her was growing every day.

There's no way he could understand that. If she was honest with him, he'd probably have her committed.

"It's not your fault." He softly said, watching her intently.

"If that had been a bomb, I could have killed this entire bus full of students. Do you know what I did? I picked up that gift box and pushed it into his hands. Jared said I could have killed us both and he's right…"

"You know what I think?" He started to say, "I know you had the room to get out of the seat, but you didn't. You chose to stay with Jared so he wasn't alone in this. That shows the kind of person you are."

His eyes searched her face as they stood closely together in the small space of the isle between the rows of bus seats.

Tears stung her eyes as she looked back at him and bitterly responded, "You have no idea what kind of person I am…"

If he knew, if he only knew all of the bad she'd done, knew an ounce of the darkness inside of her –he wouldn't be trying to comfort her, he'd be running in the other direction.

Giving her a small smile he pointed out, "I probably know more than you think I do."

As she stubbornly shook her head back and forth he continued, "You think I don't know you because you stay so guarded, but there are times when you let your guard down and I see you, the real you…"

She cut him off trying to move their conversation to a lighter tone, "If that was true, Deputy Parrish, I think you would have left town… ran away screaming."

She saw him smile back at her, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes as he could tell she was trying to keep from having a serious conversation.

This had happened before when he tried to get her to open up some, but he'd quickly learned if he tried to push, she'd push right back and close off completely. And knowing all of the stress she'd been under lately, with her friend Stiles missing for two days, he didn't want to her shut down.

"And I thought we were finally on first a first name basis." He joked, knowing at the moment, she needed a lighter conversation topic.

A small smile spread over her lips as she laughed, "I have no idea what you're talking about…"

Her eyes lingered on him as he removed the uncomfortably heavy protective vest he'd been wearing over his uniform and dropped it in one of the seats.

"So you didn't just call me Jordan?" He smiled, not just at their conversation but also because when she'd called out his name, it was another of those times that she didn't have her walls up. That she'd let them down and had true emotion showing through, then she'd trusted him enough to cut open the box and see if it was really a bomb they were dealing with.

Smiling she glanced down to the floor and thought of a comeback, but when she raised her head back up she saw a bird fly into the window of the emergency exit door on the back of the bus.

Gasping she jumped and he spun around to see what had caused the thud.

As he looked back at her, he saw tears well up in her eyes as she pushed past him to see it laying on the cement where it had fell.

"Avery…" He asked concerned by her sudden turn from joking around to seemingly distraught.

But she couldn't speak as she avoided his eyes, thinking that maybe if he just looked at her long enough, he might realize she'd accidently killed the bird. He'd know just how dark she was, how bad the power inside of her was and he'd run for sure.

Her mind flashed back to the image of hundreds of dead birds littering the ground outside of the distillery and her knees went weak as she grabbed onto the back seat of the bus to keep from collapsing from the weight of the burden she carried, the weight of the memories and the crushing fear that she couldn't be saved from the darkness, what was even scarier was that she was really starting to believe maybe she didn't even deserve to be saved.

It took a few moments for her thoughts to come back to the present, and a few seconds longer to realize he was also trying to keep her standing on her shaky legs.

"It probably flew too low and got confused, or it might have been sick…" He tried to explain away the bird's suicide flight.

This time when her eyes met his, a few tears ran down her cheeks and she shook her head back forth, opening her mouth she stuttered out a few indescribable sounds, feeling like she owed him an explanation but didn't have one he'd understand.

He had no idea what she was trying to tell him, but he saw the broken expression and the fear in her eyes as he stepped closer and folded her in a tight hug, not only to try and provide some kind of comfort, but also to make sure she didn't fall down.

Closing her eyes she let out a small, content sigh at the comforting feeling that flowed over her as she leaned farther into the embrace and held onto him, softly breathing in his scent as he held her close.

He glanced down to the top of her head as the subtle notes of her perfume tickled his nose, he wasn't sure what it was about her. But he was drawn to her in a way he'd never been drawn to anyone else. The way he was entranced with her and trying to figure out what was on her mind. He wanted to understand why she acted the way she did, to know and understand why she stayed so closed off, but if there was one person who was difficult to read, it was Avery Dukate.

He opened his mouth to ask if she was okay or to try and offer some comfort to the scared teenager, but his gaze went to the window when he heard a small noise, almost like a soft clapping sound.

"Hey…" He said as he slowly released his grip on her and they both rushed to the windows looking out to see the bird was on its feet flapping it's wings before it took off, flying high up in the air and disappearing from sight.

"Must have just stunned itself." Parrish reasoned, looking over to Avery who had her hands rested on the metal of the door with her face almost pushed against the glass.

The blonde teenager had a soft smile on her lips as she realized that maybe she wasn't always to blame for the bad things that happened. She hadn't unintentionally killed a bird, the creature had ran into the window on it's own. For a moment she started to feel a sense of hope like maybe somehow they were all going to be okay, but the new found optimism was short lived.

"_Parrish?"_

Clicking his radio microphone on and answering the sheriff he said, "Yes, sir?"

"_There is a bomb, just not here… remember those boxes of printer cartridges you brought into my office this morning?"_

His finger slid off the button as he recalled the earlier events of the day and suddenly it made sense why the sheriff's name block from his desk was in the box.

Avery spun around her eyes wide, "Are Derek and Chris Argent still being held there?"

He stared back at her silently, his green eyes not near as bright as they had been moments prior.

"Oh my god!" She gasped as she moved past him, nearly tripping over the duffle bag still on the floor.

"Wait!" He called rushing after her.

"I have to get my car and go!" She called over her shoulder, but he quickly caught up to her.

"If there is a bomb, and right now that's still a big _if_ -then you can't just go running into the building!"

She looked down to where his strong hand was on her arm from bringing her to a stop.

"I have to be there…" She argued, pulling away from his grip as she started to turn again but he said something that brought her to a stop, "Then I'll drive, we'll get there faster with the sirens on."

She nodded to him in thanks, as the pair rushed towards his patrol car.

**~()~**

After sitting with Melissa and taking a short nap, Teagan was alone in Isaac's room. The sun was beginning to set and she knew visiting hours were coming to an end, but she didn't care. She wasn't leaving his side. She already called her father, telling him she was staying at the hospital; which he understood. Thankfully Melissa got it cleared for her to stay in his room as long as she needed to.

Teagan leaned forward, grabbing his hand, and closed both of her hands around his. She laid the side of her face against their joined hands as she blew out a nervous breath. She raised her head, as she looked over at him.

"I-Isaac?" She softly said, wishing he would just answer her, and felt her heart drop when she was met with nothing but silence. She scooted closer to the head of the bed, brushing one of his curls from his forehead, then lightly touched the side of his face.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm going to talk anyways, cause... God, I miss you so much." She kissed his hand, keeping her lips pressed against his skin, as tears began to fill her eyes. She lifted her head back up, as she continued,"I miss your voice, your laughter. That little look you give me when I crack a joke, that look that says; 'God I can't believe I fell in love with such a dork'. Even though we both know I'm hilarious." She softly chuckled, as she touched his cheek, then said,"I also miss that look you give me when you think I'm not looking, the one I catch out of the corner of my eye that tells me everything you're feeling. That one that tells me how much you love me. I miss your blue eyes, the ones that see me like no one else does. The ones I want to stare at for the rest of my life."

She reached up to wipe the tears from her face, then moved her hand back toward his face, lightly running her fingertips across his lips, as she whispered,"I miss those too. I miss feeling them against mine, miss them against my skin. You changed my life with one kiss. God, that day you kissed me. It is definitely one of my top favorite days ever. I was still feeling that kiss days later. I remember telling Avery about it afterwards. I think she was more happy about us kissing than we were. You know she was 'Team TI' from the beginning." She chuckled again, then continued,"But I remember I told her, days later I still had goosebumps. I remember it took me so many minutes to move after you left. You completely captivated me, Isaac."

She licked her lips, tasting the salty tears that fell, as she said,"I also miss your bright, beautiful smile, that to this day still gives me the flutters. All of your smiles do. I bet you didn't know you have different smiles, did you?" She paused for a moment, even though she knew he couldn't answer. "Well you do. You have that smile that you give me whenever I say I love you. You have the one when you say you love me back. There is also the one you give me when we see each other again, like at school or something, after being apart for a few hours. I miss them all, Isaac, and I can't imagine my life without those smiles again." She swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to hold it together, as she continued,"There is still so much I need to discover about you. So many more smiles, so many more laughs to share, so many more things we need to tell each other. I refuse to believe this is the end for us. I refuse to believe that you're not coming back to me. This world can not survive without you in it." She choked back a sob, as she said,"I know my world can not survive without you in it."

"I'm sorry for getting you here. I know you never wanted to come to the hospital. I know it was my idea. I know it's my fault and I'm so sorry. You were just trying to save me and I love you for that, I love you for always saving me, but I really need you here with me." She cried, "I need those blue eyes and that bright smile. Isaac, I just need you, all of you; every little part that makes you the wonderful man you are. I need it all; now and forever. Please come back to me. Please." As more tears rained down her face, she laid her head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat. "It's you and me. It's always you and me." She whispered.

**~()~**

As they neared the station Deputy Parrish looked over to the teenager in the passenger seat of his patrol car, noticing how nervous and on edge she seemed.

"Are you…" He started to ask but she scoffed and cut him off, "If you ask me if I'm okay… I'm going to scream."

He nodded, thinking it was a stupid question but he wasn't sure what else to say to her.

"I'm obviously not okay…" She sighed rolling her eyes, "Derek is in there… and so is one of my friend's dads."

As he pulled to a stop they both stared at the building, smoke was pouring out of shattered windows, a few officers were outside coughing and looked dazed.

"Oh my god…" She breathed afraid to see what grisly scene was waiting on them inside of the building.

"If I told you to wait in the car…" He started to say but she didn't let him finish.

"No way."

"I didn't think so." He admitted then said, "But sometimes in situations like this there are 2 bombs, the initial blast and then another one to injure and kill the responders."

As they both got out of the car she said, "Is that supposed to scare me, because it doesn't."

"Yeah?" he asked, gently grabbing her arm and bringing her to a stop as he further explained, "It scares me that –that doesn't scare you."

Looking him dead in the eyes she responded, "I deal with things scarier than bombs on a day to day basis, and right now someone that I love…" her voice trailed off and she shook her head, "That I care about is in there."

Before he could say anything else she pulled away from his grip and rushed inside the building, almost immediately coming to a stop at the sight in front of her. Everyone was bleeding; dust and smoke were thick in the air, along with the coppery scent of blood and death. Officers we're laying scattered on the floor, moaning out in pain and clutching onto their wounds.

She saw Scott and Stiles in one room, both hovering over a dying deputy and trying to help as much as they could.

Parrish stood a few steps behind her, also taking in the frightening and gory scene, his attention turned to Avery as he heard her softly say, "Clinically and unemotionally."

He started to ask her what she was talking about but looked down when he felt someone grab onto his ankle, it was a fellow deputy, heavily bleeding from his leg and in a lot of pain.

Kneeling down he applied pressure to the wound and tried to assure them they were going to be okay and help was on the way, when he looked back up he saw Avery with Derek slouched against her side, leading him into the bathroom.

Staying focused on what he was doing he continued to try and help his fellow officer.

After helping him pull his shirt off Avery gasped as he leaned over a sink and she saw his back with shards of glass and large splinters sticking out of him.

Leaning over the sink he braced himself as she started to pull the glass pieces out, wincing every time he made a pained noise.

"Stiles did this, didn't he?" Derek quietly asked.

"Stiles, no… the nogitsune, yeah." She breathed as she used the fabric from his shirt to grip onto a shard of glass and pull it from his flesh, making a face as it ripped off some freshly healed skin as his wounds were closing.

With a pained grunt he said, "He set us up, he framed Argent and I for Katashi's murder. He wanted us here when the bomb went off…"

Avery let out a small gasp as she breathed, "I… I was supposed to be here too."

"What?" He asked looking over his shoulder at her then let out a hiss of pain as she started on the wooden chunks protruding from his healing flesh.

"This morning, Stiles –er, the nogitsune sent me a text telling me let his dad know he was okay. At the time the sheriff and I neither one understood why he didn't just text him. But now it makes sense! He knew if he told me that, that I'd come to the station to show his dad in person." She explained as she removed the last of the pieces from his back and asked, "Better?"

Standing up he moved around relieved to feel everything was gone and he was all healed up.

"Yeah… thanks." He quietly said as they faced each other, then his face twisted with confusion as he asked, "I heard you say you were leaving earlier, why did you come back?"

"I came back here with Parrish… there was an incident at the school and then the sheriff figured out that the real bomb was here, and I figured they'd still be holding you." She admitted, then raised her eyebrows as she asked, "Why were you eavesdropping on me?"

"I wasn't." He quickly defended, "I was just listening to make sure you were okay."

Her gaze fell to the floor and she started say something, but then a familiar voice rang out from the chaos of the station, "Where are the ambulances?"

"That's Parrish-" Avery started to say, but Derek cut her off as he said, "I know who it was."

"I have to go… I need to help him." She said, her tone growing more confident with every word she spoke.

He watched in silence as she left the room, knowing there was something more between her and the young deputy than she let on. But that was what he'd told her to do, to move on, but it still didn't make things any easier when he was around her.

His gaze fell to the sink beside the one he'd been leaned on where she'd been dropping all of the debris from his back into as he listened to all of the pain and chaos outside of the bathroom.

"He's losing a lot of blood…" Avery observed as she knelt down on the floor with Parrish.

"I know." He breathed.

Looking down to her already bloody hands Avery was silent for a few moments as she forced herself to regain her control, this wasn't the first time she'd been covered in someone else's blood but something about the entire present situation felt off and it was affecting her ability to approach the task at hand unemotionally.

"Take your belt off." She instructed as she looked at the deputy with an almost eerily calm expression as she forced herself into a state of perpetual numbness.

Immediately realizing what she was planning his fingers fumbled on the buckle as he tried to hurriedly remove his belt to use it as a tourniquet on the other officers badly bleeding leg, together they worked on stopping the bleeding.

"Avery…" Looking over her shoulder she saw a very pale Scott leaning against a tall desk near them.

"Scott, what's wrong?" She asked jumping to her feet and turning to face him.

He glanced behind her to Parrish and quietly told her how he'd been trying to take someone's pain, but the man had died right in front of him.

Avery's face contorted with pain as she stared at him, she was supposed to have something to say to make him feel better, but she knew all to well that there was nothing she could say to take that image from his mind.

Stepping forward she silently wrapped her arms around him in an attempt at a comforting embrace, as her own numbness of the situation faded away. As he held onto her she looked to the side and watched as the deputy who'd held the door open for her earlier that morning took his last breath and his eyes glazed over just a few feet away from them.

Her breathing grew labored and tears stung her eyes as she held onto Scott tighter, thinking in the end she needed the hug more than he did.

"Guys!" Kira exclaimed as she rushed up to them and said, "The Oni are coming… it's getting dark."

Stepping back from the hug, Avery wiped her cheeks with the back of her bloody hands and said, "You have to get Stiles out of here."

"And fast." Kira pointed out, almost frantic as she looked around the gruesome scene.

"I… I can't do this…" Scott admitted, looking at Avery with a defeated look as he shook his head back and forth.

He'd practically stolen the words right off her tongue but seeing him starting to lose faith in himself, reminded her that she couldn't stop for even a second. She had to remain in control at all times.

"Kira, go get Stiles." Avery instructed pointing to the room where she'd last seen him.

"Scott!" Avery loudly said as she tried to get his attention but all he could do was look around, feeling over whelmed from all of the pain and suffering in the air.

Grabbing his hand she pulled him behind a wall out of sight from everyone as she tried to calm him down, "Just breathe…"

But it quickly became apparent that it wasn't helping. Grabbing onto his head he admitted, "It's too much… there's too much pain, I can feel everyone's emotions!"

"Focus on something else!" She urged, but he shook his head back and forth, his eyebrows pushed together as he helplessly admitted, "There isn't anything else to focus on."

His voice came out harsher than he'd meant for it too, with his eyes glowing red.

Without a second thought she stepped forward, pulling his face to hers as she captured his lips in a kiss that demanded his submission to her.

One of his hands landed on her side and the other to the side of her face where she thought he was going to push her back, but even if he'd wanted to he wouldn't have had the power to do so. Not with the way she'd kissed him, she was well aware of the effect that kiss had on people, it rendered them senseless, not aware of where they were or even the time.

Finally pulling back she said, "Now get Stiles to the animal clinic, the Oni can't get to him in there."

But he didn't respond as he stared blankly at her.

"Scott!" She said clapping her hands in front of his face and making him jump as he saw her –his eyes widened as he made some indescribable stuttering noises.

With a small laugh she ran her tongue over her bottom lip and patted his cheek as she said, "I know, I blew your mind… but you need to focus."

"You… I…" He stammered still unable to form a sentence, he was doing good to form sounds into words.

"It was the only way to get your mind off of what's happening." She explained as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back around the wall and over to where they were, as EMT's started to flood the building, trying to tend to the injured and get the worst of the wounded onto gurneys for transport to the hospital.

"Ready?" Stiles asked as he and Kira found them.

"I'm staying here…" Avery admitted looking around as she saw Parrish helping an EMT load a badly bleeding officer up onto a gurney

"Scott?" Stiles asked looking at his best friend as he stood in place with a dumbfounded look on his face, as he kept looking over at Avery.

"He's fine." She quickly spoke up and said, "But you guys all need to go, now!"

Stiles and Kira nodded as she then started to walk but Scott didn't move, "You too, McCall." Avery sighed as she put both hands against his back and pushed her stunned friend towards the exit.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN – Thanks for reading! Don't forget to check out Miss E Charlotte and I on Tumblr, where you can find chapter sneak peeks and other Blue Moon related content! ^_^**


	25. Committed

**Chapter 25 - Committed**

* * *

><p>"Hey, you ready to go?" Deputy Parrish asked as Avery walked out of one of the bathrooms at the station.<p>

"Yeah, I think I got most of the blood." She said with a small shrug as she looked down to her hands and arms.

He nodded and led her past the cleaning crews towards the door and out to his patrol car.

She looked around, the night air still had a singed scent to it no matter how hard she'd scrubbed her hands with soap and water the coppery scent of blood was still fresh in her nose.

Getting into the passenger seat of the car she leaned back into the seat and let out a small content sigh to finally be sitting down after hours of running back and forth trying to help the responders save lives.

"How are you holding up?" He asked, as he started the car and backed out of the parking spot.

"I'm okay…" She quickly answered as she looked over to him, seeing his blood stained uniform when they passed under a streetlight.

After a few moments of silence she asked, "What are they going to do with Derek Hale and Chris Argent since the station will be closed for at least a few days?"

"Canaan P.D is holding them at their station until everything is back in order here." He explained.

She nodded thinking to be honest they were probably better off in another county, getting out of Beacon Hills might be anyone's best chance at survival now.

"What?" She asked when she noticed he was paying more attention to her than he was to the road as he drove them towards the school.

His voice was quiet and a little unsure as he questioned, "Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm…" she playfully hummed, "My favorite color is silver glitter, my favorite flower is black orchids… I have a thing for champagne diamonds and barefoot midnight walks on the beach."

Letting out a laugh he said, "That's not what I was going to ask…"

But she cut him off, thankful for the distraction from the awful day she'd had as she continued, "My favorite book is The Beautiful and Damned. Hmm, I love music in general but my favorite song would probably be Manic Monday…"

"The Bangles song… from the 80s?" He asked with raised eyebrows as he looked over at her.

Nodding with a wide smile she said, "That's the one."

"And before you ask… yes, I am very single." She teased, looking over at him from under her mascara darkened eyelashes.

She laughed and he shook his head laughing along with her, being around her was quickly becoming one of his favorite things. And for her, the time she spent alone with him somehow managed to chase away the vast feeling of emptiness and darkness inside of her, even if it was temporary.

"I was uh, I was actually going to ask about you and Derek." He admitted not looking over at her.

Slowly she turned her head around to face him as she pointed out, "I just said I was single…"

"I heard you." He assured her, then pointed out her slip up earlier, "But earlier you said someone you loved was in there, and I saw you rush right to him."

"Why are you asking me this?" She questioned, with a frown.

He looked over at her and admitted, "Well, I saw in his file that he tried to kill you and your friends…"

"Those charges were dropped." Avery pointed out, wondering why he'd even been looking into Derek, in the first place.

"I also read that." He agreed, then admitted, "Honestly… the way you act sometimes, it's like something really bad happened to you. I'm just trying to look out for you." He explained, which was the truth. But he didn't give the whole truth, which was that she was always on his mind and Derek's files weren't the only ones he'd been looking into recently.

When he saw the look of disbelief on her face he sighed and admitted, "I was on patrol the other day and I saw him coming out of your house… since that day I've seen you spiral into hallucinations on a few different occasions and honestly, it worries me."

"First off; Derek is not the cause of my problems, I don't know why everyone just assumes that. Furthermore, I don't care what his file says… he's not a bad guy. Secondly; I'm not having hallucinations, okay? Because that would mean I'm crazy… which I'm not."

She faced forward expecting him to get mad right back at her, shut the conversation down just like everyone did when she got that way with them.

But he surprised her when he apologized for upsetting her and pointed out that he really was just worried about her and the way she'd been acting.

Normally she'd have stayed mad at someone, she could easily hold a grudge for days, even weeks over silly little disagreements. But there was something about the way that he continued to try and talk through things with her that made it impossible to remain mad.

Sighing in defeat she said, "It's really complicated…"

He glanced over at her surprised she was opening up after almost biting his head off for even bringing Derek up.

"We're not together, haven't been for a long time… but I'll always care about him." She quietly said with a slightly pained expression.

Pulling to a stop at a red light, he asked, "What happened?"

"We're just… no good for each other." With a pause and a weak, bitter tasting laugh she admitted, "Both of our go to emotions is anger… I don't know, it's just… we both changed so much since we first met that we just couldn't function as a couple." She breathed, rubbing her hands over her face thinking that she was lucky to even function well enough to get through the days anymore.

He nodded in understanding, feeling a little better that she'd been open and honest with him.

Her eyebrows pushed together as she looked over and asked, "Wait… why?"

Clearing his throat as he pulled into the parking lot of the school he explained, "Like I said… the situation just concerns me."

"Mhmm…" She hummed, nodding but clearly not whole-heartedly believing his excuse.

As he pulled to a stop she opened the door and got out, leaning down into the still open door frame she flashed him a flirtatious smile as she said, "Till next time, Deputy Parrish…"

His gaze fell for a few moments as he ran his tongue over his bottom lip, then looked up making eye contact as he replied, "Have a goodnight, Miss Dukate."

He watched with a smile as she shut the door of the car and went over to her Mustang.

As she drove off he thought back to how she'd acted at the police station. After getting Derek taken care of, Parrish had watched her help one fallen officer after another. Even after the paramedic's got there, she didn't stop until every last injured person was taken from the building.

Every encounter he had with her only made him want to know more about her, he'd certainly never met anyone like her before and no matter how hard he tried to focus on other things and not think about her, she was always on his mind now. He craved her presence, missed her when she wasn't around, and whenever he thought he'd figured something out, she turned into an even bigger mystery.

**~()~**

Avery walked into the dining room and noticed a new lock on the liquor cabinet.

Rolling her eyes she muttered, "Oh, please…"

Sighing she walked down the hallway and into his officer where she easily located the key and went back, unlocking it she glanced over the expensive glass bottles before finally deciding on one and breathing, "You're with me tonight."

As she walked up the stairs to her room she took her hair out of the bun she'd pulled it up into at the police station and rubbed her scalp, as she reached her bedroom she frowned at seeing the door was open. She thought her dad had been snooping again, but as she walked in she saw Scott sitting in one of the round ottoman chairs in her room, watching the TV.

He turned his head when he heard her come into the room.

"What are you doing here…" She asked, as she sat the bottle of alcohol down on top of her dresser.

"Waiting on you." He admitted, as he stood up and shut the TV off, dropping the remote into the chair he'd been sitting on.

"I thought you'd be back a lot sooner though…" He said, his eyes lingering on the bottle she'd sat down on her dresser.

"I didn't leave the station until everyone who'd been injured was taken to the hospital… I learned some advanced first aid training with Allison." She explained, then her eyes went to his ripped and bloody shirt as she gasped, "What happened?"

"It turns out that Stiles… wasn't really Stiles when we got to the animal clinic." He admitted a pained expression on his face as he thought of how he'd looked into his best friends eyes as he'd twisted the sword that had been stuck him.

He quickly explained how Deaton had showed up in the nick of time and injected Stiles with lichen to poison the fox until they could figure out a more permanent solution.

She stood in silence, staring down to the floor as she thought of how none of this would have happened if her friends hadn't had to be surrogate sacrifices for their parents, which the more she thought about it the more she found reasons to blame herself for it all.

"Uh…" Scott cleared his throat, "That's not why I'm here though, I wanted to talk about, you know… earlier."

"About the guy you watched die?" Avery questioned, her tired eyes searching his face.

Glancing around the room he rubbed a hand over the back of his head and said, "No… the thing that happened after that."

With furrowed brows she guessed, "With Stiles at the clinic?"

"No… before that."

Sighing and shaking her head she said, "Scott, I'm gonna be honest here… I'm really exhausted and the last thing I want to do is play 20 questions with you."

"You know…" He said motioning between them, leaving her even more confused than before.

Finally he quietly breathed, "The kiss."

"Oh!" She exclaimed, laughing then her face twisted as she asked, "Wait… why? What is there to talk about?"

"The fact that you kissed me!" He almost yelled back at her.

"To get you to focus… Scott, you were freaking out." She reasoned, acting like it wasn't a big deal.

Seeming to not hear her explanation, "It's just… I'm with Kira… or I think I am. Okay, I'm not really sure where I stand with her, but there is something there."

She looked down to the floor and held back a laugh as she cooed, "It was just a kiss… it didn't mean anything. But the fact you came here to talk about it… it's adorable."

Seeing the look he was giving her she sighed, "It wasn't that long ago that I kissed Teagan to get her to calm down."

"You… kissed Teagan?" He asked unable to hide his shock.

"Yes, to help her." Avery said rubbing her forehead as she reasoned, "I have this effect on people, I can make time stop with a single kiss."

Dramatically flipping her hair over her shoulder and flashing a smile she said, "I'm Avery Dukate, I'm just that good."

He laughed, feeling relieved from their conversation he said, "I just wanted to make sure that we're okay…"

"We're fine, and if you feel bad because we kissed behind Kira's back, I'll just kiss her too." Avery joked, then said, "But I'm warning you, if I kiss her… she might forget all about you."

Thinking back to how her kiss had rendered him speechless earlier he said, "Yeah… don't kiss Kira." She laughed at his words and started to say bye to him before he stopped as he looked at the bottle of alcohol on the dresser.

Slowly turning to face her said, "What you did earlier… helping everyone at the police station, that was amazing."

She shrugged and walked over to her closet pulling out some clothes to sleep in after her shower.

"You don't believe me…" He realized watching her.

Turning around she said, "I try… you know?" Her voice cracked for a moment before she composed herself and said, "I try really hard to be like you… and Teagan, and Stiles… all of you who are always doing the right thing. But I'm just not like you, Scott."

Before he could speak she quietly breathed, "It's like I was born bad…"

"I don't believe that, not for a second." He asserted as he walked closer and said, "There's something you said to me when I left you with Deucalion, you said that I'm better at being a hero than you… but that isn't true. Look at everything you've done, Avery. You are a hero… to all of us."

"I'm the reason everyone is in this mess in the first place!" She argued, not understanding how he could look at her without being repulsed by how mangled she was on the inside.

"No you aren't!" He exclaimed, watching her in disbelief.

"If you only knew… knew the thoughts I have, and the things I see. Something is broken in me and I don't know how to fix it…" she breathed, feeling tears sting her eyes.

"I know as much as you let me know… but I know enough. I've seen you fight for all of us, I watched you try to give up your life to save our parents. Avery, I watched you help Stiles everyday with his homework because he couldn't read, and you've helped me so many times I've lost track and in ways I can't even describe. You are the reason we're all still here." He assured her stepping closer as he felt the anguish in the air radiating off of her.

"No, I'm not." She said, as a single darkened mascara laced tear left a trail down her cheek, "But I'm trying to fix things… I'm trying to be better." She admitted.

"Hey…" He breathed out stepping closer as he pulled her into a tight embrace, "We're going to figure something out to help Stiles and Teagan… and you. We always figure something out."

Her tears soaked into his jacket as she clutched onto him and mentally demanded her tears stop flowing, they didn't listen.

"You're not alone." He said, his voice barely over a whisper.

**~()~**

Teagan opened her eyes, surprised to see Avery staying by the hospital bed, her hands above Isaac's arm. She sat up in the chair, rubbing her eyes, as she asked, "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Hey." Avery said, as she glanced over at her best friend for a moment, seeing the concern look on her face. The longer it took Isaac to heal, the longer he was out, the more scared Teagan became. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." She added, knowing sleep wasn't something Teagan had done often lately.

"It's okay." Teagan said with a yawn, as she stood up from the chair and began to stretch. "What are you doing?" She asked again, seeing that Avery ignored the question earlier.

"I'm not going to hurt him." Avery said, figuring she would be worried about that.

"But will it hurt you?" Teagan questioned. As much as she wanted Isaac to be okay, she didn't want to risk Avery hurting herself.

"It'll make him better." Avery stated, avoiding the question.

Teagan open her mouth to argue, but before she could say a word, Avery grabbed Isaac's arm and closed her eyes with a pained groan. Teagan watched helplessly, as Avery twitched a few times as the lights overhead flickered.

When the machines hooked up to Isaac began to beep, Teagan looked over at them, watching all the numbers go crazy. Worried something was going to happen to her best friend, boyfriend or both, she called out Avery's name, begging her to stop.

As the beeping on the machines increased, Teagan looked over at them again with wide eyes, then looked back at Avery, seeing a trail of blood running down her face from her nose.

"Avery, stop!" Teagan called out, as she grabbed her shoulder and roughly pulled her back, breaking the hold she had on Isaac as the door swung open and a nurse rushed inside. Thankfully once the connection was broke, the machines had returned to normal and the lights stopped flicking.

"What's going on in here?" The nurse asked, as she looked at the two teenagers.

"N-nothing." Teagan answered. She glanced over at Isaac for a moment as she walked over to the bed, laying her hand on his arm. She looked back at the nurse, as she continued, "We just uh, we heard the machines going off."

"So maybe you should do your job and check on him." Avery added, as she wiped the blood from her nos,e on to her pants before the nurse noticed it.

"Avery!" Teagan hissed, as she glanced over at her best friend.

The nurse rolled her eyes, then walked over to the machines, checking them as well as checking on Isaac. "He's vitals are good, they're stronger. Actually this is the best they have looked since he was brought in." The nurse said. She looked over at the teens with a shrug, as she said, "Must have been a glitch in the machine."

"Thank you." Teagan said to the nurse, before she looked back at Isaac with a small smile on her face at hearing the news.

The nurse nodded her head, then turned and left the room leaving the two younger girls alone. Teagan took Isaac's hand, giving it a small squeeze, missing the way he would squeeze it back.

She wiped a lone tear from her cheek, then turned to look at Avery, as she said, "That was really dangerous for you to do."

"You heard the nurse, he's doing better." Avery pointed out, as she pulled a napkin from her pocket, dabbing it at her nose when she felt blood running from it again.

"I know and I appreciate it, Avery, but you can't do things like that, we don't know what all of that..." Teagan began to say, as she gestured around wildly, then continued, "Will do to you."

"It doesn't matter what it will do to me… not if it helps someone else." Avery said under her breath so softly Teagan barely heard her.

"Don't talk like that…" She argued, making it known that she had heard her best friend and didn't like what she'd heard.

Hearing a machine beep, they both looked over to see his vitals were still climbing and stronger than moments before.

"Avery…" Teagan started to protest more against her best friend using her abilities like that, but before she could Avery cut her off in an attempt to distract her.

"I had to come do this today… because you might not hear from me for a few days. But you don't need to worry." Avery assured her, with a wrinkled nose at the scent of her own blood.

"What… why?" Teagan asked, already not liking the sound of her friends plan.

"Stiles thinks he's better off away from everyone… he's having his dad commit him to Eichen, until we can find a way to get rid of the nogitsune." Avery admitted.

Teagan took a slightly stumbling step backwards, holding onto the footboard of Isaac's hospital bed to steady herself as she breathed out, "Eichen House… from what I've heard that place is a nightmare…" Her voice trailed off, a part of her secretly feared she might be facing the same fate if they couldn't find some way to save her.

Bracing herself for the brunette's response Avery continued, "That place is dangerous enough… I don't think he should be in there by himself, so… tonight I'm also committing myself."

When she was met by silence Avery looked up to see Teagan staring at her with her mouth gaping open.

"T…" Avery started to say but she couldn't get another word out before her friend cut her off, "You can't just commit yourself into a place like that!"

"I have to." Avery argued.

"No, A… you don't."

"I can't leave him alone in there… I have to help him, figure out a way to fix him… but until we have a permanent solution, he needs to know that he's not alone." Avery said, swallowing hard as she thought how much comfort the meaning behind those simple words could offer, hearing that from Scott was one of the only things that made her feel better.

Teagan looked over to the bed where Isaac was still unconscious, and thought to herself that she understood. She understood both why Stiles would rather be locked way than hurt any of his friends, and she also understood the importance of not feeling alone when you're fighting a seemingly losing battle.

"There's no talking you out of it." She whispered under her breath, as her gaze slowly fell to the floor.

"I've made up my mind and I already told my dad."

"A… you have to be careful, I've already lost so much and now with Isaac…" Her voice cracked as she looked over to the bed with tears running down her face.

Stepping forward Avery wrapped her best friend in a hug as she promised, "He's improving… he's getting better and with you by his side, he's going to continue to improve. He didn't have it in him to heal on his own, but I gave him that… spark, just enough power to start healing."

"What did it do to you?" Teagan asked returning the warm embrace, as she looked over at Isaac, feeling torn. On one hand she couldn't lose Isaac; she wouldn't survive without him. But on the other hand, she couldn't let Avery endanger her own life; she wouldn't survive without her sister either.

Her hold on Avery tightened as she felt like no matter what small victory they got, it always came at such a high price.

"I'm fine, T." Avery confidently said, but she wasn't so sure anymore. Every time she used her Imperium powers, it chipped a piece of her away. She could feel it changing her and even worse, a small –ever growing part of her didn't care.

She was the reason everyone was in this mess, and she had to fix it –fix them, even if it was the last thing she did, and with the way she'd been feeling lately… it was starting to feel like it might be.

**~()~**

"You're sure you want to do this?" Richard asked as he pulled the car to a stop.

Avery looked over to the large, imposing structure and then down to her shaking hands.

"I don't want to." Avery whispered as she looked at the tall wrought iron fence with the word; Eichen, over the large gate.

"Good." Richard said as he started to turn the car back on, but she reached over and stopped him.

"I don't want to, but I have to."

"Avery…" He started to say but she cut him off.

"Dad don't, I heard it from you all the way here and from Teagan earlier today. I get that you guys are worried about me, but this is Stiles. Aside from Teagan, he's the one person who would do anything for me and I'm not going to let him fight this alone." She said as she slowly opened her door and stepped out into the cool night air and shivered knowing what awaited her.

"I know how much you care about him, but this isn't Stiles we're dealing with… it's the Nogitsune. He could hurt you… he could kill you, Avery." Richard exclaimed in frustration and helplessness.

Shaking her head back and forth she assured him, "The lichen is poisoning what's possessing him. Right now, he is Stiles, my friend Stiles… and he's terrified and alone and I am doing this. If you try to stop me, I'll do something to get committed on my own."

"What are you talking about?" Richard asked as he put a hand on his teenage daughters shoulder and forced her to stop walking up the stairs.

She avoided his gaze.

"You're threatening to hurt yourself?" He gasped.

Her jaw tensed as she said, "I'm telling you that we either voluntarily commit me for as long as Stiles is here, or I'll give the doctors a reason to commit me."

"Avery!" He snapped, outraged at her threats.

"You don't understand, dad. If the situation was reversed… if it were me, Stiles wouldn't give up on me and I won't give up on him. Ever."

"What are you doing here?" Scott asked as he jumped off his bike and rushed over to them. After trying to talk Stiles out of locking himself up in Eichen, he'd been headed home when he passed Avery's dad's truck and saw her in the front passenger seat.

"I'm going to keep an eye on Stiles." Avery said, thinking the idea of someone watching over his best friend would soothe his nerves but instead Scott's jaw dropped as he gasped, "What… why would you do that?"

"Because he really shouldn't be alone right now." She looked towards the building and breathed, "Not in a place like this…"

Scott stared at her, not entirely sure what to say. As much as she claimed she was doing this for Stiles, there was a part of him that felt like she was just being reckless.

"They're not just going to let you walk in there." Scott argued, with a helpless expression as he looked behind her to her dad who had the same defeated look on his face.

Avoiding his eyes she reasoned, "We called ahead… plus, they already have a file on me, so getting admitted shouldn't take too much convincing.

Turning his head and looking at the building, Scott realized, "You've been here before…"

"It doesn't matter, what does matter is getting Stiles better… So I'll see you in a few days." She somberly said as she turned and faced the large imposing gate.

"I don't like this." Scott said as he stepped in front of her.

Avery sighed at hearing her dad muttering something about not being the only one who didn't like the plan.

"Scott…" Avery started to protest his trying to stop her but he cut her off, "I don't like this… I just said goodbye to Stiles and now I feel like I'm saying goodbye to you too…"

"You're going to see me again in a few days." She assured him, offering a smile but she had the same feeling he did. A feeling like if she walked into that place it wasn't going to be her that walked back out, but it was too late now.

Without another glance at Scott she pushed through the gate with her dad on her heels.

"If I let you do this, you have to promise me you'll be careful." He pleaded; his eyes glistened in the exterior lights of the building.

"I will be." She promised the same thing, she'd promised Teagan earlier.

"Excuse us."

Avery and her dad looked up and moved sideways to allow the coroner and his aide to get past them down the steps with a sheet covered corpse strapped down to the gurney.

Avery's heart dropped as she screamed, "Wait!"

Causing them to look at her, as she rushed forward and pulled the sheet off the head of the body, sighing with relief to see it wasn't Stiles.

"You can't do that!" the coroner snapped as he jerked the sheet from her hand and covered up the body again.

Stepping forward Richard rested his hands on Avery's shoulders as he said, "I'm sorry she…"

His voice trailed off, at a loss as what to defend her actions with.

"Has an affinity for death." She lied, flashing them an eerie smile.

"You'll fit right in…" The aide sighed as he helped get the gurney down the stairs.

"Come on." Avery said as she nudged her dad and they headed inside.

As they walked inside the building a chill ran down her spine at the familiar interior, her eyes gazing over a young man in a wheelchair who had no control as his body twitched and jerked.

"Can I help you?" An African American woman asked as she approached them with a not so friendly smile.

"Yes, uh… I believe we spoke on the phone. My daughter needs… well, she needs help." Richard said, feeling like she was slipping away with every word he spoke.

"Ah, Dukate… right?" she asked as she nodded for them to follow her.

As they entered a small, claustrophobic feeling office with drab decorating and a depressing color scheme he shook his head back and forth, "I think this may be a mistake."

"Is everything alright?" The nurse asked him as Avery took a seat.

"I saw the dead person…" He admitted.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, normally when such an accident occurs the remains are taken out a side door. But with it being so late…" Her voice trailed off as she looked at Avery who was rocking back and forth in her seat, picking at a small freckle on the back of her hand.

"If you'll have a seat, we can begin the admission process." She instructed Avery's dad.

Sighing in defeat he nodded and sat down, taking the clipboard that was handed to him.

"It seems we already have a file on Miss Avery here." She said as she flipped through the contents of a manila folder in front of her.

"A previous suicide attempt, it says here you were temporarily housed here for almost 48 hours." She read, causing Richard to push down with the pen; he was writing so hard he broke the plastic housing.

Eyeing him for a few seconds, the nurse handed him another pen, as she explained, "Just like the last time you were here; for 72 hours there are no phone calls, emails, or visitors. We'll head from here to your assessment by the psychiatrist, speak to a social worker and be required to attend group therapy."

Avery nodded as she stood up and started to empty her pockets before she was told to do so, as her father still struggled to fill out the paperwork to commit her.

The nurse opened a desk drawer and retrieved a white tray, "I know exactly how much this jewelry is worth and the exact amount of money in here…" Avery said as she laid her wallet/cellphone holder in the tray with her jewelry.

"I mean it too, down to the last penny." She said as she eyed the nurse suspiciously.

"We'll put this in a safe place."

"Mhmm." Avery hummed as she sat down and took off her high heels, "And these shoes probably cost more than two months of your salary, so why don't you just give me those hideous slippers so my dad can take these back home with him."

After more of the rules were explained and all of the waivers signed, Avery's dad left and she was taken to change into the standard uniform of those being housed at Eichen House; sweat pants and a plain shirt.

"I'll be back to take you to your room after the assessment." The nurse who'd done her intake said as she pushed open a door and Avery walked inside, where she was met by a small framed, middle aged woman with thick framed glasses and lip stick a few shades darker than what could have worked with her skin tone.

"Hi there." She beamed with a warm smiled as she stood from her desk and extended a hand to the frightened teenager, "I'm Dr. Reynolds, you must be…" Her voice trailed off as she looked down to the open folder on her desk and said, "Miss Dukate."

A pained look spread over Avery's face as she let go of the doctors hand and crossed her arms over her chest, as she thought of Deputy Parrish and how he'd playfully call her that.

"It's, uh… just call me Avery." She stuttered out as she sat down in the chair facing the desk and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to get warm in the thin dark gray long sleeved shirt a few sizes too big on her. Her mind drifting back to Parrish again, and the warm, safe feeling she had in his presence. As a chill ran up her spine, she thought of how she'd give anything to have that feeling right now.

"I see here your check in was voluntary." The female doctor said offering up another smile.

Avery nodded knowing as much as she didn't want to, she was going to have to actually open up about her problems.

"Why don't you tell me about you and your family's reasons for this." She said, her voice calm.

Avery looked around the dimly lit room as she admitted, "I've been having these… nightmares."

"What happens in the nightmares?"

Avery watched as she scribbled something down in her note pad.

"All kinds of things… really intense nightmares where my friends and everyone I care about are killed, and it's always my fault." Avery admitted looking down and biting down on her bottom lip she continued, " Everything is always my fault."

"So it's safe to say that a running theme in your dreams is being left alone?" She questioned, watching the teen intently.

"Is there another common theme in these nightmares?" Dr. Reynolds pushed.

Crossing her legs up under her in the chair, Avery nervously fidgeted and pulled at a loose thread on the shirt she was wearing as she admitted, "Being haunted, I guess…"

"Haunted…by who exactly?" The doctor continued the intrusive questioning, thinking she'd seen this before, patients believing they were being haunted by a dead friend or relative. Some even believed they were being haunted by dead celebrities.

"Not who…" Avery swallowed hard, not looking up as she continued, "The darkness."

When the room stayed quiet Avery sighed, she hated the silence and felt the need to keep talking, "This darkness, it's always there… no matter what I do I can't chase it away. And I try, I try so hard but I always screw things up. I'm poison… all I do is hurt everyone around me."

A tear dripped down her cheek and she wiped it away, as she rolled her sleeves up thinking the room that had –had a chill to it had suddenly gotten so hot she could barely breathe.

"Are these nightmares only happening at night?"

The blonde teen shook her head back and forth, refusing to make eye contact again.

"So you're having hallucinations through the day as well?" She asked with an empathetic expression as she quickly jotted more notes down and focused back on the discussion.

With a pained voice Avery admitted, "They're getting worse, for a while I –I could control it, pull myself back but I'm having more and more nightmares… I feel like I'm drowning in it."

"Your file says you're not on any medication, no anti-depressants or anything?" The doctor continued to scan through the folder in front of her.

"Right." Avery agreed.

"So how have you been coping with what's happening to you?"

With a bitter laugh Avery raised her head and said, "Obviously, I'm not coping or I wouldn't be here, would I?"

Dr. Reynolds pushed the glasses further up the bridge of her nose and ignored the snarky remark as she clarified, "Have you been self-medicating? Like… using alcohol to chase the pain and your feelings away, or to get to sleep?"

Avery nodded.

"Okay…" She said writing it down in the chart as she questioned, "Over the past 14 days how many of those days would you say you abused alcohol?"

"14."

"Every single day?" The doctor asked surprised.

"I normally drink myself to sleep every night, it's the only way I get through the next day. And… I've been carrying vodka in a water bottle at school with me." She admitted, pinning her eyes shut as she spoke.

She heard the doctor blow out a heavy breath as she laid her pen down, now entirely focused on Avery and not on her session notes.

"What about drugs… prescription or street?"

Shrugging Avery said, "Not really… not since I got really sick off a pill I got at club. I try to just stick to alcohol."

"What about other vices… like sex, are you sexually active?" The doctor softly asked.

"Yeah, I am." Avery admitted.

"Okay." She said trying to offer a small smile to not make her feel judged as she picked her pen back up and asked, "In the last 90 days, about how many different sexual partners have you had?"

Avery's gaze fell to the desk, as a few moments passed in silence making the doctor think she wasn't comfortable enough to discuss her sex life.

"It's okay, we can talk about something else and come back to this question." She said, her voice still soft, but her smile fell as Avery spoke up.

"I'm still counting…"

Her light brown eyes slowly raised where she was matched by a shocked expression which the doctor quickly tried to cover as she cleared her throat and tried to think of her next question.

"I –I hate sleeping alone…" The teenager defended in a shaky voice.

"Okay." The doctor said as she closed the folder and said, "Honey… it's getting awfully late, why don't we get you settled into a room and we can discuss this more tomorrow?"

Avery weakly stood up feeling like her legs weren't steady enough to hold her and kept her gaze fixated on the cement floor as the doctor put a hand on her back and gently led her towards the door.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks for reading the chapter! ^_^**


	26. You Found Me

**Chapter 26 - You Found Me**

* * *

><p>Teagan didn't know how long she had been sleeping, truthfully she never really remembered going to sleep, but when the sun began to shine in her eyes, she scrunched up her face and let out a small moan, before opening her eyes; realizing she was in a bed and not in the chair she had been in for the last several hours.<p>

She glanced around, confused on where she was. She wasn't in the hospital and she wasn't in her bedroom, at least not her bedroom now, but the bedroom did look very familiar.

She lowered her eyebrows, as she realized what room it was. It was her old bedroom, the one she had before her family moved from Beacon Hills when she was 14.

Teagan got out of bed, looking around the room and trying to figure out why she was in it. She honestly never thought she would see the room again or be back in this house. She had always loved the house, before they moved it was the only house she ever known, but when they moved back she was grateful that her father bought a different one. One that didn't have tons of memories attached to it.

She couldn't even drive by the old house now so she couldn't understand why she would be in it now. She grabbed a robe from the back of the door and slide it on over her pajamas, feeling a sense of deja vu, as she left the bedroom.

The feeling only intensified as she made her way through the small house, hearing music softly playing from the kitchen and the sound of someone shuffling around cooking breakfast.

When she heard laughter coming from the room, she came to a stop, her mouth dropping open in surprise as she recognized both of her parent's laughter coming from the room. She took a few cautious steps toward the kitchen, peeking in the door and felt her eyes go wide when she saw them dancing in the middle of the kitchen, as they lovingly looked at each other, it was a scene she saw often when her mother was still alive.

No matter what meal her mother was cooking, somehow her parents always ended up dancing in the middle of the kitchen. It was always their thing and something she had missed seeing after her mother's death.

Seeing Teagan from over his shoulder, Paul smiled, then said,"Hey, there she is. Morning, Sweet Tea."

Lisa turned around, smiling at her daughter, causing Teagan to softly gasp. She felt her heart beating in her chest as she looked at her mom, seeing the smile on her face that she never thought she was see again. It was the same that always made her feel safe and loved. Even when her mother started haunting her dreams, she never smiled at her like that.

"Morning sweet girl, you are just in time." Lisa said, as she picked up a plate with pancakes and bacon on it. She held it out, as she added,"I made your favorite."

"Well one of her favorites." Paul added with a laugh. "You know she could never pick a favorite breakfast food."

Lisa laughed at the comment, both knowing it was true, then she looked back at Teagan, noticing the look on her face. She lowered her eyebrows in concern, as she asked,"Are you okay, sweet girl?"

"I-I don't... I'm-I'm..." Teagan began to stutter, unsure what to say. She never imagined waking up and finding her mother in the kitchen cooking breakfast like she always done in the past.

Lisa sat the plate of food down, then walked over to her, placing a hand on her forehead, as she stated, "You're not running a fever or anything, but if you're not feeling good you can stay home from school." She paused a moment, then added,"I can call in at the hospital, stay with you. We can cuddle on the couch and watch a movie, that always makes you feel better."

Hearing the word 'school', Teagan shook her head, school was exactly where she needed to go. As much as she would love to lay on the couch with her mom and watch movies, something they use to do all the time, she needed to be at school. Maybe she could find one of her friends and they could explain to her what the hell was going on.

"No, I'm uh, I'm okay." Teagan said. She flashed a small smile, as she added,"Just still half asleep."

"You sure?" Lisa asked, as she lightly ran her fingers across Teagan's face, causing tears to fill her eyes at feeling the motherly touch she hadn't felt in a long time. The motherly touch she had missed.

"I'm sure." Teagan quietly said, as she cleared her throat, trying to get her emotions under control. "Matter of fact, I should get ready for school now and go. I need to meet up with Avery, it's important." She added, as she began to back out of the room.

"But your breakfast." Lisa called out.

"I'll eat it later." Teagan yelled, as she ran back to her old bedroom. She slammed the door closed, leaning back against it, as she took several deep breaths, trying to wrap her mind around what the hell was going on. She just had to hope Isaac, Avery or even Scott knew what was happening.

**~()~**

Several minutes later, Teagan arrived at school and searched the hallway for one of her friends or even her boyfriend, just someone who could explain what bizarre world she landed in.

She breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw Avery down the hall at her locker, changing out her books. Without a second thought, Teagan pushed pass the other students to rush down the hallway, calling out to her best friend.

"Hey, you!" Avery called out happily, as she glanced at her friend for a moment, then looked back inside her locker.

"Avery, something weird is going on." Teagan said without taking a breath.

"You're telling me." Avery said. She looked over at her friend, as she added,"You remember that weird kid I got paired with last year in Mr. Harris class? I think he's stalking me or something. I swear every time I turn around, I see him."

Teagan opened her mouth to tell Avery about all the weird things she witnessed since waking up, until she realized what Avery said. She thought back to the year before, in Mr. Harris class, Avery was paired with Stiles.

"Wait, what weird kid?" Teagan asked confused.

"That spazzy kid, what was his name?" Avery began to say, as she tried to remember his name. "It was something weird... Skittles? No, Staples?"

"Stiles." Teagan breathed out, feeling even more confused about what was going on.

"Right, yeah, Stiles." Avery said, as she snapped her fingers. "What the hell is a Stiles anyways?" She questioned.

Teagan shook her head, things were even more strange than she thought. Whatever weird world she was in, Avery never dated Stiles, she didn't even know who he was.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times, unsure what to say back. She watched Avery reached into her locker again, and gasped when she saw the tattoo on her wrist. It wasn't the new one she got after what happened with Kate, it was her old one, the one that said 'Nevermore' with a small crow.

"Oh, my God." Teagan breathed out, as she took a small step back.

Avery looked over at her friend with a concern look, as she asked,"Are you okay?"

"Y-Your tattoo." Teagan whispered out.

Avery looked down at it, not sure what the problem was, then said,"What about it? You act like you're seeing it for the first time or something." She laughed, then added,"You would think after over a year, you would be use to it."

"No, but, you don't... It was ruined... Kate..." Teagan panted between breaths.

"Please, you know I would kill a bitch if she ruined my tattoo." Avery said with a laugh. She lowered her eyebrows, as she added,"Are you sure you're okay, T?"

"I don't...I-I need Isaac. I need to find Isaac." Teagan mumbled, as she glanced around looking for her boyfriend, needing him to help calm her. She just needed him to hold her and maybe he could explain what was going on.

"Who?" Avery asked confused. Before Teagan could answer, she added,"Who are these people you're talking about? Kate? Isaac? Do they even go to this school?"

"No. Well I mean, Kate doesn't. She's dead, but Isaac does and I need to find him." Teagan explained, as she rubbed her forehead, feeling her head hurt.

"Okay, well, whoever this Isaac guy is, you better not let your boyfriend hear you talk about him. You know how he can get." Avery said, as she shut her locker door.

"Wait, boyfriend? Who-" Teagan began to say, until she felt someone walk up behind her and turn her around to face him. Her eyes widen as she saw it was Jackson.

"Jackson?" Teagan asked confused.

"Morning, T." Jackson said with a smile, before he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers for a heated kiss.

"Ugh, seriously guys, it is too early for this." Avery complained, as she pulled her phone from her purse and began to type out of text message.

Teagan squealed out in surprised at feeling his lips against her. It felt strange having his lips on hers after being broken up for so long. It was nothing like when Isaac kissed her. She always told Isaac he changed her life with one kiss and that was still true, but this kiss did nothing for her other than confuse her and make her miss what she has with Isaac.

With that thought in mind, she laid her hands against his chest, then pushed him back, taking him and Avery by surprise. Before either one could say anything, Teagan squeaked out a 'got to go' before rushing down the hallway, leaving behind a very confused Avery and Jackson.

Teagan rushed down the hall, glancing behind her to make sure Jackson or Avery weren't trying to follow her. She knew they had a lot of questions, but she had no answers for them, even she didn't know what was going on. She quickly turned a corner, slamming into someone, causing her to fall back on to her butt.

"Ow! Damn!" She groaned.

"Oh, crap. I-I'm sorry." She heard someone say, causing her to look up and see Scott.

"Scott!" Teagan called out, as she quickly stood up. She breathed out a sigh of relief, as she said, "Thank God. Scott, something is going on. I don't-I don't know what yet, but things are not making sense right now. Maybe-Maybe we should go talk to Deaton or something, maybe he knows how to fix this."

"Deaton? You mean my boss?" Scott asked confused, wondering why one of the most popular girls was talking to him, and about his boss of all things. He didn't think she even knew where he worked.

"Yes, your boss!" Teagan said, then added,"Who the hell did you think I meant?"

"I-I don't know." Scott said, as he glanced around nervously.

"Wait, you do know who I am, right?" Teagan questioned him, when she saw the confused look on his face.

"Yeah, you're Teagan Young." Scott answered, then added,"I just don't know why you're talking to me."

Teagan blew out an annoyed breath, things were just getting worse and worse. She shook her head, as she said, "Believe it or not, we're friends."

"We are?" Scott asked confused. Before she could say anything else the bell rang, causing him to sigh, as he said, "Look, whatever prank you and your friends have going on, can you just get to it? I need to get to class."

Teagan ran her hands through her hair in frustration, feeling tears fill her eyes, as she whispered out, "Just go."

Scott didn't waste a second as he rushed past her and made his way down the hallway, worried whatever she and her jock friends had planned wasn't over.

Teagan stood still for a moment as students rushed pass her to get to class, a few bumping her out of the way. She saw a door to the restroom off to the side and made her way over toward it. She didn't realize until she walked inside that it was actually the men's room, which thankfully was empty.

She leaned back against the wall, sliding down to the floor. She pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around them, as a few tears ran down her face. She had no idea what was going on or where she was. It had to be a nightmare, a hallucination, but she didn't know how to get out of it. She didn't know how to get back home.

She pinched her arm a few times, as she whispered out over and over again,"Wake up, Teagan, wake up."

When that didn't work, she squeezed her eyes close, a sob breaking free. Feeling lost, scared and confused, she buried her head in her arms, hoping if she hid there long enough, she would eventually wake up and be back by Isaac's side at the hospital. She had to believe she would make it back to him somehow.

Teagan kept her head down, even when she heard the door to the men's room open, followed by footsteps coming toward her. She honestly didn't care who walked in, as long as they left her alone, they could do their business and leave, but when she heard the person speak, she jerked her head up with a gasp.

"I knew I would find you here."

"Isaac?" Teagan breathed out, as fresh tears fell down her face. She stood up from the floor, then rushed over to him, throwing herself into his arms with a sob. She felt him wrap his arms around her, pulling her tightly against him, as he kissed the top of her head.

"You found me." She whispered, as she tighten her grip on him, never wanting to let him go.

"I promised you I always would." He said back, as he pulled back a little to look at her.

Teagan smiled at his words before leaning forward to press her lips against his. She gripped his shoulders desperately, as she moved her lips against his for a greedy kiss. He laid a hand on the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her hair, as he deepened the kiss.

He grinned against her lips as he whispered,"God, I missed those lips."

Teagan let out a breathy laugh, as she pulled back to look at him. She laid a hand on the side of his face, as she said back,"I missed those blue eyes."

Isaac smiled, as he laid a hand on the side of her neck, pulling her toward him. The two held each other, drawing comfort and strength from each other. Something they had always been able to do no matter what was happening around them.

"I'm scared." Teagan whispered, breaking the silence. "I don't know what is going on." She added, as she buried her face in his shirt.

"I don't either." Isaac said, as he tightened his grip on her. "But we'll find out together." He said, as he kissed the top of her head. "It's you and me." He whispered.

"Always." She whispered back, as she squeezed her eyes shut, realizing how much she missed hearing those words, and in moments like this, how badly she needed to hear them.

**~()~**

After the door was shut to her room, Avery sighed and turned around, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness of the room as she noticed someone sitting up on the other bed.

In silence she walked over and looked out of the small window out into the moonlight, until she heard the other bed move as the girl stood up and walked closer.

"I –I know you." The brunette said as she tucked some of her tangled hair behind her ears and stared at Avery with a questioning look.

"Malia?" Avery realized then said, "Yeah, I was with Scott in the woods we helped…" She didn't get to finish her sentence as the brunette raised a fist and punched her, the impact knocked her backwards.

Responding instantly, Avery swung a leg out bringing Malia to the ground with a thud, as she quickly climbed on top of her and pinned her down before she raised her arm and punched the other teenager back.

With a growl Malia flipped them and tried to hit her again, but the blonde expertly avoided the impact and smirked as Malia punched the cement floor instead and let out a pained noise.

The next few moments passed in a blur as the pair rolled around the dusty floor of the room, both throwing punches and trying to overpower the other one, until the door to their room flew open and someone yelled, "What the hell do we have here?"

Both girls continued to yell and grunt as they attacked each other, until the orderlies finally separated them, two of them pinned Malia to the ground and a third one roughly jerked Avery up and slammed her against the wall, where she let out a hiss of pain and yelled, "She attacked me!"

"She deserved it!" She heard Malia yelling as she fought against the guys who had a hold on her.

"I just got here!" Avery shrieked.

"Malia, a few more of these and you're going to the closed unit." The guy who was still pushing Avery against the wall said.

Finally hearing his voice she rolled her eyes, knowing exactly who it was –the head orderly, Brunski.

As he finally let go of her, she turned around and he saw her. With a sinister smirk he taunted, "Well, well, well… what do we have here?"

Her jaw tensed in anger and she bit her tongue, knowing arguing with him would only make things worse.

He nodded at the other too, who pulled Malia to her feet where she stared at Avery with some blood trickling from her busted lip.

"One more noise, out of either of you tonight and…" Then his gaze fixed on Avery as she crossed her arms over her chest and took a few steps back, "And we'll visit our 5 point restraint system… since I know what a big fan you are of that, Avery."

She swallowed hard and closed her eyes as she remembered her last time in Eichen House when she'd been restrained on several different occasions for minor things like refusing the medication they'd tried to give her.

Letting out a menacing laugh he started for the door with the other 2 orderlies following right behind him like lost puppies.

Once the door was shut and locked, and their heavy footsteps disappeared down the hallway, Malia breathed, "God, I hate him…"

"Me too." Avery said as she eyed the other girl suspiciously, and saw her lip had already healed up.

Not taking her eyes off of her, Avery crossed in front of her and sat down on the other bed in the room and scooted back until her back was against the wall as Malia also headed back to her own bed, neither girl wanting to give Brunski a reason to come back in their room.

"You're stronger than you look." Malia said as she pulled her blanket up around herself and shivered.

"Why the hell did you attack me, what's wrong with you?" Avery harshly snapped at her.

Malia stared over towards the window as she gave a small shrug and admitted, "Because I didn't want this… I'd rather be out there, in the woods."

"As a freaking coyote?" the blonde asked with an amused and disbelieving expression, as she pulled her blanket up around herself too.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to have to look your father in the face every single day, knowing you're the reason that your mom and sister are dead?" She replied.

**~()~**

Dressed in a dark gray t-shirt and light gray pants, Avery was led towards the group therapy room.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Stiles sitting in the group led by Ms. Morrell.

He was staring down to his lap like he was afraid to look around.

She walked up and quietly sat down in the empty seat across from him.

Ms. Morrell continued to talk about the effects of guilt.

"Does anyone know what we'd call someone who doesn't experience guilt?"

"A sociopath." Avery answered.

Stiles stared up at her in shock, and she looked back at him with a concerned expression.

"S-sociopath!" Oliver, Stiles' roommate announced to the group, as if Avery hadn't said anything.

Stiles let out a small sigh of relief as he closed his eyes. It was just in his head, she wasn't really there which meant for the time being, she was away from him where he couldn't hurt her; she was safe.

"That's right, Oliver." Ms. Morrell said as her eyes stopped on red lines forming up Stiles' neck.

"I'm sorry everyone but we need to take a break. Stiles come with me." She urged as she slammed her binder shut and stood up.

Avery silently stood and followed them, wondering why Stiles hadn't acknowledged her presence.

"What's happening?" Avery asked.

After examining the marks, Ms. Morrell said, "It's a Lichtenberg figure. It appears in lightning strike victims. The fact that they're appearing on you after a shot of wolf lichen is both significant and strange."

"What does it mean?" Avery asked louder, stepping closer to them.

"When the marks fade, the Nogitsune's power over him will return." She explained.

Stiles sighed and then his eyes widened, "You can see her too?"

"Yes…"

"Oh my god, that means you're real. What are you doing here?" He asked as he rushed over to her.

"How are you?" she questioned, her light brown eyes searching his face.

He shook his head back and forth at her ignoring his question, "You're not only here, you're in these clothes… what's going on?"

"According to this, she has brief reactive psychosis brought on by severe depression which manifests itself with hallucinations and vivid nightmares…" Ms. Morrell read from her chart as she raised her eyebrows at the teenager, not reading the rest of it out loud.

"No. You can't be here, you need to be away from here… away from me. I'm dangerous, Avery." He warned as he faced her.

"I have to be here." She defended her actions, "You shouldn't have to deal with this alone."

Opening up a medicine cabinet Ms. Morrell pulled a pill bottle out and handed it to Stiles, cutting off their conversation.

"Sleeping pills?" He questioned as he gently shook the bottle.

"Amphetamines. Sleeping is exactly what you don't want to do, you're vulnerable when you're asleep." She answered.

Avery looked around the room biting down on the side of her tongue as Stiles asked, "So all I have to do is stay awake?"

"For now. If your friends haven't found a cure by the time those marks are gone, I'll come find you." She said.

"To tell me what to do?" Stiles questioned, as Avery stepped up beside him.

"No, to give you this injection; pancurronium bromide." Ms. Morrell responded, seeming unemotional.

"Like hell you will!" Avery exclaimed as she stepped forward in a protective manner over Stiles.

"What?" Stiles asked.

"Pancuronium Bromide is the second drug administered in lethal injections, it causes the lungs to stop functioning." She explained, as she glared at her.

"So when the nogitsune takes over, you're going to kill me?" Stiles asked, as what Avery said sunk in.

"I'm going to do what I've always done, maintain the balance." She responded.

After telling Stiles she'd meet up with him in a few minutes, she waited until he was out of the room before she spun and faced the school guidance counselor again.

"You're not going to kill him."

"I don't want to, but if the nogitsune takes over… I won't have a choice." She explained.

Avery crossed her arms over her chest and stepped forward, her eyes cold and steely as she shook her head back and forth, "He's a teenage boy."

"Let's talk about you for a bit." Miss Morrell said as she looked back down her folder and asked, "Is all of this true? The hallucinations, the drinking… promiscuity?"

"Not at all." Avery lied as she defensively crossed her arms over her chest.

"You sure about that? Because the person described in this file sounds like they've been taking some pretty big risks… and this, you getting locked in here is a risk, Avery." She said as she closed the folder and let out a small sigh at the blonde seeming unaffected by her words.

"I'm not in here because I need help, I'm in here to help Stiles…" Avery said taking a deep breath as she continued, "He didn't ask for this, okay? He didn't ask to be possessed or have any of this happen to him. He would lay his life down for any of us and that is the reason why we're going to save him, and not kill him."

"And if he can't be saved?" Morrell questioned, "Failure is not an option. Not this time." Avery hissed as she left the room.

**~()~**

Many minutes later, Teagan and Isaac were sitting together on the floor. Teagan was beside him, turned toward him, with her legs thrown over his lap, and her head resting on his shoulder, just wanting to be close to him.

"This has to be a nightmare. I'm in the middle of a nightmare and I don't know how to get out of it." Teagan softly said, breaking the silence. She grabbed the front of his shirt, gripping it, as she continued,"You're not bringing me back, you can't, and I'm-I'm stuck."

"Hey, look at me..." Isaac began to say, as he laid a hand on the side of her face. "You're not stuck. I'm going to get you out of here. Somehow I'm bringing you back, Teagan. You always come back to me." He said before leaning forward and pressing his lips against hers for a sweet kiss. "You're coming back." He whispered against her lips.

"Are you coming back?" Teagan questioned. As tears filled her eyes, she added,"I mean, how are you even here now?"

"I don't know." Isaac answered honestly.

Teagan stood up from the floor and began to pace in front of him, as she began to ramble,"I mean, how do I even know you're really here? That you're really you. This could all just be something my mom is putting in my head." She laid her hands on either side of her head, pulling at her hair, as she continued,"She's screwing with me. She has to be screwing with me again."

"She-She knows how badly I need you. How much I love you and she put you here to make me think everything is okay and that I'm safe, but then she's going to take you away from me and I-"

"Teagan, hey, look at me." Isaac called out, as he jumped up from the floor. He placed his hands on her shoulders, stopping her from pacing, then removed her hands, as he looked at her and said,"I don't know how this is possible, but I'm here. I'm really here with you, babe, and we're getting out of here, okay?"

"Okay." Teagan muttered, as she nodded her head. More tears fell down her face, as she throw herself into his arms, she held on to him tight, as she whispered,"Just don't leave me, okay?"

"I won't." Isaac said. He kissed the side of her head, as he added,"I'm not going anywhere."

The two continued to silently hold each other, as they tried to figure out how to get out of this nightmare they were in. It was obvious that her mother was running the show, but there had to be a way to pull them both back.

"The hospital." Teagan mumbled, her face pressed against his shirt. She pulled back to look at him, as she repeated,"Maybe we should go to the hospital. It's where we both were last."

"We find my room and find ourselves." Isaac added, understanding what she was suggesting.

"It could be a long shot, but maybe, maybe we can get back that way." Teagan said, as she grabbed his hand. A hopeful look on her face, as she added,"Come on, my car is in the parking lot."

**~()~**

After arriving at the hospital, the two jumped out and rushed into the building. They didn't slow down as they got into an elevator and rode up to the floor his hospital room was on.

Teagan grabbed his hand, holding on to him tight, afraid of losing him, as they rushed down a hallway looking for the room he was in.

"Is this the right way?" Isaac questioned, as they turned to walk down another hallway.

"Yeah, it's right around the corner." Teagan said, as she pulling him along behind her. When she saw the closed door to his room, she breathed out happily, as she said,"There it is."

She glanced back at Isaac for a moment as she pulled on his hand, and said,"Come on."

She dropped his hand for a second, to push the door open and stumbled inside. When she saw it wasn't his hospital room, but instead a smaller room with only a bed against the wall, her face fell.

Teagan quickly spun around and choked back a sob as she looked around the unfamiliar room. She ran over to the door, stepping on her tip toes to look out the small window.

"Isaac? Isaac!" She screamed, as she began to beat on the door. "Isaac, please, please come back! Don't leave me! Please!" She cried, as she slapped the door one last time before falling against it with a sob.

She wasn't sure how long it had been as she cried against the door, muttering out Isaac's name every so often; before she heard someone unlocking the door and began to open it.

She took a quick step back, then lowered her eyebrows in confusion when Deaton walked into the room. He mistook her confusion for not remembering him, causing him to look down at the file in his hand. He made a note, then looked back up at her.

"Hello Teagan, I'm Dr.-"

"Deaton. I know who you are." Teagan interrupted.

A look of surprise appeared on his face, as he said,"Oh, so, you do remember me then?"

"You're a veterinarian, your Scott's boss." Teagan said, still confused on why he was here now.

"Scott McCall? The alpha werewolf, right?" He questioned, as he looked at the file again, reading his previous notes.

"Yeah, you know Scott." Teagan pointed out, then asked,"So, why are you saying it like that? And why are you even here, what is here?"

"Follow me." Deaton said, as he turned to leave the room.

Teagan watched him walk out of the room, she still had no idea where she was, but she trusted Deaton. He had helped them more than once and probably knew more about the supernatural world then they did.

She followed him down a short hallway then walked into an office with him. She glanced around the room, as she asked,"Where are we?"

"My office." Deaton answered, as he walked over to his desk and sat down. He gestured to the chair in front of the desk, as he added,"Why don't you have a seat?"

When he saw her looking around more, he asked,"You don't remember this room?"

"Should I?" Teagan asked.

Deaton nodded his head, as he said,"We've talked quite a few times in this room."

"I have never talked to you in this room." Teagan said, then added,"I don't even know where this room is. Where am I?"

"You're back in Eichen House." Deaton said, as he wrote something down in his notes.

"Back? What do you mean back?" Teagan asked, as she sat up in the chair.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Deaton asked.

"Last thing I remember... I was- I was with Isaac. At the hospital. Waiting for him to heal and wake up." Teagan answered.

"Isaac Lahey, right?" Deaton questioned, as he flipped back a piece of paper, looking at his notes from the last time they talked. "The 'boyfriend'?"

"Why do you say it like that?" Teagan asked. "Like I'm crazy or something."

"You're not crazy." Deaton pointed out. "You just had a little set back, but that is why you are here again. We're going to help you again, Teagan."

"What are you talking about?" Teagan questioned, her voice rising.

"Calming breaths, Teagan. Remember, take a deep breath." Deaton instructed. "No one is trying to attack you. We're just trying to figure out what happened. What caused this episode."

"I'll like to find out what happened too." Teagan snapped back. "One minute, I am by my boyfriend's side and the next I'm in the middle of this nightmare."

"Is that what this feels like to you, like a nightmare?" Deaton asked, as he wrote something down.

"It is a nightmare and I'm stuck in it and I just want to get back." Teagan pointed out. "And what are you writing?" She questioned, her voice raising again.

"Just my notes. You know that. No one is attacking you, remember? You don't have to be paranoid. This is a safe space, okay?" Deaton pointed out, as he flashed her a friendly smile. "Just remember to take calming breathes."

"Stop telling me to be calm!" Teagan yelled. "I just want to go home."

"And I'm trying to get you back there, Teagan. But you have to work with me, okay?" Deaton said, calmly. "Tell me what happened?"

"Why don't you tell me? You seem to know more about this world than I do." Teagan said, as she leaned back against the chair, folding her arms across her chest.

"So you are back to believing this 'world' isn't real? That your other life, the one you made up, is the real one?" Deaton asked.

"I don't believe it, I know it." Teagan said. "This is just some nightmare she tossed me into. None of this is real."

"She who?" Deaton questioned.

"My mother." Teagan answered. "She's been haunting me for weeks and it's getting worst."

"Your mother is the one who brought you back to me for help. She noticed you were slipping, making comments about your other world and she was concern." Deaton said. "Is that why she is dead in your other world and haunting you now? Do you feel like she is somehow to blame?"

"No, she's dead cause the alpha pack killed her and she's haunting me cause while I was being a surrogate sacrifice to save my dad, she came in through a door somehow." Teagan answered honestly. She gave a bitter chuckle, as she said,"And I know what you're thinking. I am just confirming what you already think. That I'm crazy, but I'm not. That is the truth! But this.." She began to say, as she gestured around the room, then added,"All of this, is not real. None of it is."

"Answer me something, Teagan." Deaton began to say, as he laid his pen down. He folded his hands on the desk, as he continued,"What sounds real to you. A young girl with paranoid schizophrenia who just had a little episode, but can be helped, then can go home with her family and live a normal life." He paused, then added,"Or a girl in the middle of a world filled with werewolves, banshees and an Imperium. Having all these life and death situations, and being haunted by her dead mother. Which sounds real to you?"

"I know how it sounds, but that is my life." Teagan began to say. She wiped a tear from her cheek, as she continued,"It's hard and scary, and sometimes I might even wish it was simple, but even during the crazy, heartbreaking, tragic times I wouldn't trade it for anything. Cause I have something real over there."

"I have a father; who loves me, who even if he doesn't understand the choices I make, he supports me. I have a best friend; who would do anything for me, who will put her life in danger to help me, and I have a boyfriend; who is my whole world and who loves me with all his heart." More tears fell down her face, as she continued,"And I love him with all of my heart. I can't breathe without him, I can't live with out him and right now; he needs me. He is hurt and he needs my strength to save him. I just want to get back to all of that. I want to get to Isaac, and Avery, and my father. I want to get back to all my friends, cause that world is real, but even if it by some chance it wasn't, I would still rather be there than here. Cause a world without my boyfriend, without my father or friends, is not a world I want to live in anyways."

Deaton opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say a word, the phone on his desk began to ring. He answered it, spoke a few words then hung up.

He looked back at Teagan, as he said,"Your parents are here and want to see you. Normally I don't allow patients to speak to their parents this soon, but this is a special case and I'm hoping seeing them will help snap you back."

Without another word, he stood up from the desk, and made his way over to the door to open it. When her parents; her father and mother, walked in, she stood up from the chair.

"You." Teagan snapped, as she shot her mother a look. "You did this to me. You sent me here, you did this!"

"Teagan, sweetie, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to bring you here, but you're sick, sweet girl. You need help." Lisa said, as tears filled her eyes.

"I am not sick! You're just screwing with me. Send me back! Send me back now!" Teagan screamed, as she rushed over to her mother.

Before she could lay a hand on her mother, Paul and Deaton stepped in, Deaton held Teagan back while Paul stood in front of his wife to protect her.

"Sweet Tea, we are not the enemy, we just want to help you. We love you, Teagan." Paul spoke up.

"No! There is nothing wrong with me. It's her! It's her!" Teagan yelled, as she pushed Deaton aside and went after her mother again.

She was yelling at her mother so loud she barely heard Deaton calling out for help or seeing someone rush into the room. She gasp when she felt a needle sticking her in the arm. She felt her eyelids get heavy, she glanced over at her mother one more time, seeing a small smirk on her face before she blacked out.

* * *

><p>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- ^_^ Miss E Charlotte and I would both like say thank you for reading the latest chapter, we hope you enjoyed it!**


	27. A Chaotic World, A Chaotic Mind

**Chapter 27 - A Chaotic World, A Chaotic Mind**

* * *

><p>"I'm still not sure how any of this is going to help him." Malia admitted as both girls quietly made their way through the empty halls of Eichen.<p>

"Shh, you're supposed to be listening for footsteps." Avery reminded her as she looked around to check their surroundings.

"I am." Malia sighed closing her eyes for a second to refocus her hearing.

"Stiles said he needs to get into the basement, he thinks there's something in there that will help him." Avery whispered.

"From the evil spirit possessing him…" Malia remembered their conversation from the prior day as she wrapped her arms around herself in the thin long sleeved shirt she was wearing.

The blonde tucked her hair behind her ear and sped up her pace realizing how late they were to meet up with Stiles, but they couldn't sneak out of their room until the last rounds were done on their hallway and the orderlies had been several minutes late.

"He should have been here." Avery said her forehead lining with concern and confusion as they walked up to the door leading to the basement, but Stiles was nowhere to be found.

"Maybe they were late on his floor too?" She breathed as she leaned against the door and looked around.

"Or he got caught." Malia shrugged as she faced her.

"Don't say that." Avery sighed, then said, "I'm really wondering why I agree to even let you tag along."

Either not hearing her or not acknowledging her statement the brunette said, "Wait… if he did get caught, I know where they took him. Come on."

As the girls carefully snuck down the stairs to the floor below them Malia came to a stop with a confused expression and put her arm out bringing Avery to a stop as well.

"What?" She whispered.

"I… I hear something, I hear him…" Malia breathed as she looked around and then briskly started for a room and tried the door but it was locked.

"It's locked." She stated looking at Avery who rolled her eyes and said, "Open it!"

"It's locked!" Malia exclaimed louder than before.

"And you're a werecoyote… you have superhuman strength, break the damn lock. Just concentrate." She urged her as she took a deep breath and tried to keep herself in check.

After a slight struggle with the door, the girls both rushed into the room where Stiles was laying on the floor whimpering and mumbling, "Let me out. Let me… let me out!" Over and over again.

"No, no, no!" Avery gasped as she dropped to the floor and started to try and shake him awake.

"What's wrong?" Malia asked, as she could feel the air in the room change when Avery grew increasingly upset with every failed attempt to wake the teenage boy.

"He's not supposed to sleep." She helplessly said before she flipped him onto his back and slowly laid her hands in the center of his chest, closing her eyes and focusing.

Jumping, Malia looked up to the ceiling as the lights started to flicker as she asked, "What is this? What's happening?"

But Avery didn't respond, and within a few moments Stiles lunged forward wide awake as he shouted, "No, let me out! No, no!"

"Shh, you're okay." Avery said cupping a hand over his mouth as Malia commanded, "Shut up!"

He looked between them and breathed a sighed with relief, "How did you guys even get in here?"

"She broke the lock." She said nodded to Malia who felt the need to explain, "If I concentrate I can be pretty strong."

As both girls pulled him to his feet Stiles explained, "Brunski… he caught me, he took his keys back."

"Damn it." Avery whisper-yelled under her breath, feeling like all hope was lost.

But the mood was lifted slightly as Malia raised her head and realized out loud, "There's another way to the basement… through the closed unit, where they keep the real psychos."

**~()~**

They'd been in the basement for nearly an hour, looking through old case files and boxes of history on the building, including information on several barbaric procedures that used to take place within those walls.

But Avery's attention kept being drawn towards the doorway they'd come in through, leading out into the basement hallway.

As she saw someone with blonde hair pass in front of the small window on the door she gasped and stood up, causing the other two to look up at her startled.

"I, uh, I'll be back." She stuttered out as she started for the door, pausing when she realized Stiles and following her, "Relax, I've just got to use the bathroom, I'll be right back."

She didn't even look back over her shoulder as she stepped out into the hallway and shut the door behind her.

Feeling an unnatural cold chill in the air, she wrapped her arms around herself and took slow, apprehensive steps deeper into the basement until she came into a room where she saw a girl, her same height dressed in Eichen clothing staring at the wall.

"Hello…" Avery managed to choke out, as she stepped closer to the stranger, growing colder by the second.

The girl didn't respond, just continued to face the wall with her back to the rest of the room.

Letting out a shaky breath, Avery walked forward and right as she reached out to grab the girls shoulder, she screamed and jumped back when the other blonde started to violently hit her head against the wall.

Every cell in her body was terrified, telling her that she didn't want to know or understand what was happening. Logic told her to scream out for Stiles, or run from the room. But for some reason her legs wouldn't move, she was frozen.

"Stop it, just stop!" Avery yelled as she finally grabbed the girl and spun her around, stopping the girls self-harm.

But Avery gasped and backed away as the blonde girl facing her with blood trickling down her pale face, was herself.

"This isn't happening… it's not real. You're not real!" Avery whimpered hitting her head a few times and hoping the nightmare would pass. Now was normally when the twisted reflection of herself would taunt her, torment her with her own worst fears.

But not this time.

This time, the longer Avery stared at the spitting image of herself, the blurrier her face got. At first she thought it was her eyes, but then she realized nothing else in the room was hard to focus on, just the fading features of her own face.

She needed to turn away, stop looking at the now almost faceless girl but she couldn't. All she was able to do was watched as every last feature disappeared until there was a faceless image of herself standing in front of her.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she shook her head back and forth as the terrifying, faceless teenager started to walk towards her.

The longer she stared at her, the more Avery could feel herself starting to slip away with the realization that this terrifying, faceless, ghost-like creature in front of her wasn't a nightmare –it was herself.

Inside she was slipping away, losing the hold on her control and she didn't even know who she was anymore.

She'd tried, but it was impossible to hold onto the person she was before everything happened, but that girl just wasn't there anymore.

She was an empty shell now, she had nothing to lose now because she'd already lost the important thing; herself.

Swallowing hard she realized she might as well have really been walking around faceless because she wasn't herself anymore, she had no identity. Slowly, day by and day and piece by piece she was fading away, she was becoming nothing.

Falling to the floor she grabbed onto her head as more tears ran down her face, until her finger grazed over the kanji for self that the Oni had left behind her ear and slowly she raised her head to see her faceless image was turned back to the wall, again repeatedly hitting her head against it.

Still rubbing the slightly raised backwards 5 on her skin, she thought of how much she was hiding, how much she kept locked away in her own head.

**~()~**

When Teagan finally came to, she realized she was back in the small room she was in before, the one she was in when Deaton entered earlier to talk to her. She was laying on the small bed off to the side, she figured someone must have placed her there after getting the shot to knock her out.

With a groan she lifted her head, then groaned louder when she saw her mother sitting across the room in a chair watching her.

"What do you want?" Teagan moaned, as she sat up in the bed, rubbing her eyes, trying to get her bearings.

"This isn't the life I wanted for you, Teagan." Lisa said, as she stood up from the chair. "I gave you a perfect life. One before we moved, before I died. You were with Jackson, Avery was normal and not the monster she has become, but you had to keep pushing. You had to go against me."

"This isn't my life. No matter what you do, this would never be my life." Teagan pointed out.

"Well, now, this is going to be your life. Locked up right here, in your own mind." Lisa said, as she folded her arms. "This is what you made me do."

"What happened to you, Mom? What happened to the woman who raised me; who believed in love and be loved." Teagan questioned, as she stood up. "This is not you, Mom. You would have never told me to kill people I love. What made you this cold, this mean, this hateful?"

"Death." Lisa stated. "You think life is hard? Life is a cakewalk compared to being dead." She shook her head, as she continued,"And if you keep going the way you are, you are going to end up exactly like me. History will repeat itself."

"You don't know that!" Teagan exclaimed. "You couldn't possibly know what is going to happen."

"I know more than you think." Lisa argued.

"Even if that is true, even if I lose my life the way you did, at least I know I tried." Teagan pointed out. "I never turned my back on anyone; I was there for my friends, I loved someone with all my heart. To me that is a full life."

"You're a child. You don't know anything!" Lisa snapped. "But it doesn't matter, cause right now, you're stuck. Right here in this tiny room." She smirked, as she added,"No one can save you, no one can pull you back."

"Isaac will." Teagan said, standing up to her mother. She knew he would do whatever to get her back.

"Didn't you hear?" Lisa questioned. "Listen..." She began to say, as she titled her head to the side.

Teagan's eyes widen when she could faintly hear machines beeping repeatedly before she heard the machine flatline, signaling someone passing away.

"There goes the monster boyfriend. Even if you did go back, he won't be there, but here... you two can be together. I can make him human, he can be normal and you two can be together for however long you want. Your life can be perfect." Lisa stated.

"No! No, he's not gone. You're lying." Teagan yelled.

"Am I?" Lisa questioned. She clicked her tongue, as she said,"Guess you'll never know, cause either way, you are stuck here. No one to save you."

"I know you're lying." Teagan said, as she walked closer to her mom. "He's there, he's waiting for me and I'm going back to him, cause there is one thing you didn't think of."

"What?" Lisa asked.

Teagan smiled as she remembered what Melissa told her, that sometimes she needed to save herself. "I can save myself."

Lisa chuckled, as she said,"You can't fight me, Teagan. I am stronger than you, I am your mother. You will listen to me!"

"Not anymore!" Teagan screamed, as she shook her head. "I will wake up, I will get back to Isaac, I will save myself."

"In your dreams." Lisa snarled, as she took a step toward her. "You can't beat me, Teagan. You're too weak, you can't-"

"I can save myself." Teagan repeated. "I CAN SAVE MYSELF!" She screamed before pushing her mother backwards.

Teagan snapped her eyes open with a gasp. She glanced around, taking in her surrounding as she realized she was back in Isaac's hospital room. She breathed out a sigh of relief, as she realized she did it, she pulled her self back. She saved herself.

"Teagan?" She softly heard, causing her to turn her head toward the bed. A huge grin broke out on her face, as she saw Isaac's slowly opening his eyes.

She jumped out of her chair, rushing over to the bed and throw herself on him. She let out a soft chuckled when she felt him wrap an arm around her. He was weak and still had more healing to do, but he was awake and that was a dream come true to her.

"You came back." Teagan whispered, as she laid her head on his chest.

"I would never leave you." Isaac softly said, his voice faint, but it was still the best thing she ever heard.

Teagan lifted her head, looking at him, then leaned forward to softly kiss his lips. He slowly raised his hand, intertwining his fingers in her hair. He quietly sighed against her lips as he whispered,"I missed those lips."

Teagan pulled back, smiling at him, as she lightly caressed his cheek, then said,"And I missed those blue eyes."

Isaac gave her a small smile back, as he said,"I love you."

"I love you too." Teagan said, as she laid her head on his chest again. A smile still on her face, as she whispered,"It's you and me."

"Always." Isaac whispered back, as he kissed the top of her head before letting out a content sigh.

**~()~**

"Oh my god… Avery!" Stiles exclaimed as he jumped off the couch leaving a shirtless Malia to pull her shirt back on over her dark blue sports bra.

She looked between them, thinking that she'd been in another room across the basement, fighting for her sanity and they'd been making out –obviously she'd been more worried about Stiles then he'd been about her.

"I, uh… I'm sorry." Stiles apologized as Malia stood up, her eyes going down the blonde's body to where she was holding part of a heavy metal pipe.

Her voice was numb, emotionless as she reasoned, "Whatever, it's fine… things have been over between us for a long time."

"Still…" Stiles started to apologize, but stopped as Malia nudged him and motioned to where Avery was holding onto the pipe like it was a weapon.

"I don't care." Avery harshly breathed rolling her eyes, "Kiss –make out, whatever, I don't care. But I just don't think that right now is the best time to be doing this."

Stiles took a cautious step forward, swallowing hard as he realized the look on her face didn't even look like her, it was like he was talking to a stranger, and when she snapped her gaze to him he jumped, surprised at the level of fear he was feeling from the presence of his friend.

"What are you doing with that pipe?" Malia finally asked, as the hair on the back of her neck stood on end and she shivered.

"Don't you get it?" Avery yelled at them. "It's a cover! You think you're yourself because it's there, but you're not and it's a lie. It's hiding… it's hiding something behind it."

"What?" Malia breathed looking around the room, as Stiles said, "Avery… I don't know what you're talking about."

"I didn't either… " Avery snapped as she hit the side of her head with her hand several times, the same side the kanji was on as she tried to explain, "But now I know… I thought I was me, but I'm not… I'm faceless."

Malia's eyebrows pushed together as she stared at the teen who was starting to seem like maybe she belonged in a place like Eichen after all.

"Faceless…" Stiles breathed out, as he started towards her but stopped when she pointed the pipe at him.

"It's here… it's been here the whole time. We just need to get inside of it." She said shaking the pipe then felt the kanji behind her ear with her finger and whispered, "We just need to get behind it."

Without another word to them she rushed across the room, using the pipe to bust through the section of wall where there was a large backwards 5.

Both Stiles and Malia ran towards her, using her werecoyote strength, Malia managed to get the piece of pipe away from her and Stiles pulled Avery back, pinning her arms as she started to hit the side of her head again.

"What are you doing?" Stiles finally asked as Avery stopped fighting against his hold on her.

She stuttered out some inaudible noises until Malia dropped the pipe to the floor, then looked over and said, "She's not crazy… there's something in there."

"I told you." Avery said shrugging out of Stile's arms as she rubbed the kanji behind her ear again, and he walked forward to where Malia was pulling more of the wall apart.

"Stiles… there's something in here." She brunette repeated again, nodding towards the pipe on the floor, so he could help her.

Avery took a few stumbling steps backwards as the teen continued to destroy the wall until they saw the bandaged remains of someone inside the wall.

"This is him." Stiles said, as he dropped to his knees.

"The nogitsune?" Malia questioned him, then glanced over to where Avery was watching them.

When no one answered her, she leaned into the broken section of wall and pulled an old photograph from the corpses' pocket and handed it to Stiles, asking, "Recognize them?"

"One of them…" He said confused as he showed the picture to Avery who immediately recognized one of them looked like Kira.

"Avery look out!" Stiles tried to warn her, but he didn't get the warning out in time as Stiles' roommate Oliver, pressed a taser to her side and her body crumpled to the floor, convulsing from the currents. Upon her head's impact with the floor, everything went black.

Oliver proceed to tase Stiles, once he was also on the floor helpless, Malia backed against the wall behind her and stared at him with fear in her eyes.

"You took Brunski's keys…" Oliver stuttered out then admitted, "I took his stun gun."

He stepped closer to Malia, then used the stun gun on her stomach until she slid down the wall and he knelt down in front of her as he said, "I also got his Haldol." He kept his eyes on her as he pushed the needle into her leg and emptied the syringe.

It was a while later when Avery slowly opened her eyes, she groaned in pain and tried to move an arm to hold onto her sore head, but wasn't able to.

She could hear Stiles pleading with Oliver, but their voices sounded almost mechanical and far off in the distance.

As the panic of not being able to move grew, and she slowly became more alert, she could focus on their voices more.

"Wait, what are you doing?" She heard Stiles ask.

Looking down her blurry eyes focused on the restraints on her arms.

"No!" She gasped as she struggled against them.

"You did this… you got into his head." She heard Stiles say, looking over she saw him staring off towards the wall, talking to someone or something she couldn't see.

"Stiles… what's happening? What do you see?" She asked, her voice dry and hoarse as she continued to struggle in an attempt to break free.

"Leave her alone!" Stiles shouted, growing increasingly panicked as if he were being tormented.

Avery looked up to see Oliver now standing above the chair she was strapped down too.

His voice started to crack as he desperately pleaded, "Just let her go, please."

"What's happening?" Avery shrieked as she saw the drill in Oliver's hand.

"He… he wants me to let him in." Stiles admitted, on the verge of tears from what was happening.

"No! Don't let it in, whatever happens you can't let it in!" She screamed as she tried even harder to break her restraints.

She jumped as Stiles screamed out in frustration and slammed against his chair, but it was no use the restraints were stronger than he was.

Tears rushed down her cheeks as her entire body shook with terror at what was happening, she heard the drill click on and Oliver placed a hand on the top of her head, holding her still.

"Let –let her go! Please, don't hurt her. Just let her go." Stiles shouted louder than before, letting out another exasperated scream.

Oliver held Avery's head to the side and she swore she could feel the air on her face from the drill bit spinning, then it occurred to her that was the only thing she could hear.

"Stiles… you have to stay awake!" she cried out, pinning her eyes shut and trying to brace herself for what was going to happen.

She hoped it would be a quick death, but with someone drilling into her brain, she doubted it would be quick or remotely painless.

Then a voice she didn't recognize said, "Oliver!"

He stopped the drill and took a couple steps backwards.

Avery opened her eyes and saw Stiles pulling the wrist cuffs off, but she knew the moment she looked at him that it wasn't really Stiles; not anymore.

Quickly grabbing the drill from Oliver he knocked him out with it, dropping the machine on the floor he turned and face Avery who struggled against the restraints that bound her.

"S –Stiles…" she whispered, in sheer terror as he gave her a sinister smile.

"Not anymore." He admitted, as he walked up to her and looked down. Placing his hands over her arms that were bound to the chair he leaned in until his face was just inches away from hers as he slowly cocked his head to the side and watched her.

"We're going to win…" She whispered, as her entire body shook from fear, "We're going to kill you and get Stiles back."

"How are you going to do that?" He questioned smiling wickedly at her as the dark circles became more apparent around his eyes.

"You're just some amped up parasite… my friends, they'll figure something out." She said, her words surprisingly confident.

He laughed and licked his lips as he leaned in closer to her face and said, "To kill the parasite, you have to kill the host… and we both know that's not going to happen."

She tried to lean back, to put space between the nogitsune and herself, but being restrained to a chair she had no place to go.

"You can't save Stiles… you can't even save yourself." He pointed out as his grip tightened on her arms, causing her to squirm not only from the painful squeeze on her arms but from his words.

"All of this… pain you're in, all the time…" He said, as he squeezed even tighter onto her arms and she leaned back, gasping in pain as he somehow managed to bring every painful experience in her life to the front and center of her mind. She looked down to see the veins in her arms were dark and pressing up against her skin, looking the same as the ones appearing on the back of his hands.

Her eyes widened as she saw his eyes start to flutter and roll back, feeding off her pain as every memory brought up put her in agony. Any trace of hope or light left was being pulled right out of her, and there was nothing but pain. She had no control over her thoughts; she was helpless.

Breathing heavily he stared into her eyes as he said, "A nogitsune feeds off chaos, pain and strife."

"Let me go…" She pleaded, as tears streamed down her face and her lips quivered.

"And you Avery…" He laughed as he let go of her arms and held onto the sides of her face, he was so close his lips brushed against hers as he spoke, "That's all you are…"

"Don't!" She yelled trying to pull away, but he smashed his forehead against hers and said through gritted teeth, "You're full of pain and strife… and your head is nothing but chaos… I want it."

She whimpered, fighting harder than before against her restraints but she couldn't break them, his face was against hers as he said, "And you're going to give it to me…"

A loud pained noise escaped her lips as he continued to feed off all the chaos in her head, off of every single painful memory she'd kept locked away, and off of her strife; her internal struggles she faced every day.

"P –please stop…" She whined, not only was she in agony but with every passing second she was changing, growing darker and just like she'd feared before she walked in Eichen, that if she did make it out of the building –she wasn't going to be same person who walked in.

His uneven breathing rushed over her face, his eyes rolled back again and small noises and groans left his lips. She had no idea how long the entire thing lasted, possibly only minutes but it felt like days as the nogitsune continued to feed from her, making her relieve traumatic events over and over in her own head. Locking her in a state of nothing but turmoil, until he finally stopped and took a step back.

Leaving her shaking and crying in the chair, she was so weak she couldn't even raise her head to look at him, not that she'd want to now. Briefly she wondered if he'd kill her now that he'd fed and taken what he wanted from her, but when she heard the door to the room close she knew he left.

**~(A few days later…)~**

Teagan shifted in the hard chair and let out a quiet sigh, as she tried to get comfortable enough to catch a quick nap. She had been in the same chair for so long lately, she felt like it was now a part of her, but she refused to leave Isaac's side much.

He was getting better, but still had some healing to do. But the fact that he was off the machines, awake at times and breathing on his on was a step in the right direction.

She had only had her eyes closed for a few minutes, when she gave up on trying to sleep. Between the horrible imagines still hitting her, the uncomfortable chair and her worry for Isaac, sleep was impossible.

She slowly opened her eyes, staring across the room for a moment, before she raised her head from her hand. She dropped her arm from the arm of the chair, then turned her head to look over at the bed. She softly smiled when she saw that Isaac's eyes were open and he was watching her.

"Hi." Teagan whispered.

"Hi." He croaked out. "Come here." He softly added.

"Is everyone okay?" Teagan asked with a worried look, as she stood up from the chair and walked over to the bed.

Isaac didn't answer, as he reached out to light grab her arm, pulling her toward the bed, as he said,"Lay with me."

"I'm not sure if that is a good idea." Teagan said, as she shook her head. She wanted nothing more than to lay with him, be in his arms; she missed that, but he was still healing and she didn't want to hurt him. Which is what she told him.

"I'm doing better." Isaac pointed out, as he pulled her toward him again.

"But you still got a lot of healing to do." Teagan argued.

Isaac let out a soft sigh at her comment. He locked eyes with her, as he said,"Babe, I'm okay. You're not going to hurt me, but I haven't had you by my side in what feels like forever, please just lay with me."

Teagan blew out a breath, she was still worried about hurting him, but when he looked at her the way he was; pleading with her, she couldn't say no. Besides just as much as he needed to hold her, she needed to be held.

"Are you sure?" Teagan questioned, just wanting to make sure.

Isaac let out a small chuckle, as he said,"Yes. Now get in this bed or I'll pull you into this bed."

"Okay." Teagan said with a laugh, as she sat down on the hospital bed.

Isaac scooted over and rolled over to his side, as she laid down in front of him, her back pressed against his chest. He tossed an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, as he laid his forehead against the back of her head.

He took a deep breath, her scent calming him, then closed his eyes planning to take a nap. Even if he was feeling better, there was still healing that needed to be done, and as his body worked hard to do that, it left him feeling tired and drained.

He was close to falling asleep until he felt her shifting around in front of him. He ignored it the first time, but when she began to do it again, he cracked an eye open, as he asked,"What are you doing?"

"Trying to get comfortable. Sorry." Teagan softly said, as she looked over her shoulder to glance at him for a second.

He closed his eyes again, until she began to move around again. He bit his bottom lip, holding back a moan, as her butt hit his most sensitive area a couple of times. He breathed out a sigh of relief when she stopped moving again.

But once she started shifting around for the third time, he couldn't hold it back any longer. He let out a groan, as he breathed out her name and tighten his arm around her.

"I'm sorry." Teagan quickly said, as she turned her head to look at him. A worried look on her face, as she asked,"Did I hurt you?"

"No, I'm okay-" He began to say, then thought about it a little bit. Thinking about how badly he was turned on now and knew he couldn't do anything about it. "Actually, on second thought, yeah you are."

Teagan was worried that he was serious, until she saw the smirk on his face and knew what he meant. She softly chuckled, as she shook her head, then said,"Is sex all you think about?"

"I have my hot girlfriend rubbing her ass against me. It's hard to not think about sex." Isaac pointed out, as he gave her lips a quick peck, then rested his forehead against her shoulder.

Teagan smiled at his words, before saying,"Well you're going to have to stop thinking about it. We can't do that right now."

"I know." Isaac said with a sigh. When she shifted a little without meaning to, he raised his head and moved it close to her ear, as he whispered,"You have to stop moving, babe. I'm serious."

"I'm sorry." Teagan said with a giggle. "I really didn't mean to do it that time." She turned her head to look at him, as she shot him an apologetic smile.

"It's okay." Isaac said, as he flashed her a smile. "Let's just lay here, very still, not moving at all." He added.

As she turned her head back, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to think about the things he wanted to do to her. Trying not to think of what having her body so close to his was doing to him, but the more he tried not to think about it, the more he did think about it, which only made him even more turned on.

Teagan's eyes widen for a moment, before she turned her head to look at him again, before saying,"Maybe I should just turn around. I think I should turn around."

"I think- yeah, that's probably a good idea." Isaac said with a nod, knowing that she could feel how turned on he was at the moment.

He rolled over to lay on his back, as she rolled over to her other side, now facing him. She looked down at him for a moment, as she suggested,"Maybe you should roll over too."

"Are you trying to make me the little spoon?" Isaac asked with an amused look on his face. "I'm too big to be the little spoon." He pointed out.

Teagan bit her bottom lip, as her eyes glanced down for a moment, checking out a certain area on his body. Catching her looking, he chuckled, as he said,"Now who's thinking about sex."

"I'm-I'm not..." Teagan began to stutter, as her face turned red.

"Liar." Isaac said with a smile. He lightly grabbed her arm, pulling her toward him, as he said,"Just lay here." After she laid her head on his chest, throwing a leg over his and cuddled against him, he playfully added,"Not moving."

"I won't move a muscle." Teagan said with a chuckle, as she laid her hand on his chest.

"Good." Isaac said, as he kissed the top of her head.

The two silently laid there, just enjoying being close to each other after having to be apart while he was hurt. She felt tears fill her eyes as she thought of all the times she sat beside him, hoping and praying he would come back to her. She was trying so hard to be strong and positive, but there were a few times she feared moments like this would never happen again, that their story would end before it really began.

"You okay?" Isaac asked, as he lifted his head to look down at her, when he heard her sniff. He saw her quickly wipe at her eyes, before she looked up at him, but he knew she had been crying, he could smell the salt from her tears.

"Teagan, what's wrong?" He continued, as he wiped away a tear from under her eye.

"Just thinking about how close I came to losing you; how close I came to never doing this again." She began to say. "Just laying here with you, feeling your arms around me and hearing your heart beat. I came so close to losing all of that, but I am so grateful to whatever brought you back to me."

"I'll always come back to you, Teagan. Somehow, someway, I'll always come back." Isaac said, as he laid a hand on the side of her face. "Your love will always bring me back, your love saves me."

Teagan smiled at his words, as she said,"That's what my dad said when he visited. He told me I couldn't give up, that you needed me and that you would come back."

"Your dad was here?" Isaac asked surprised.

Teagan nodded her head with a smile, as she said,"Yeah, he came to check on you. So did Scott, Melissa, Avery... A lot of people came here for you." She softly touched his face, as she whispered,"You are so important to so many people. My life isn't the only one that you have changed, you've made everyone's life better. You have a lot of people who care about you, Isaac."

Isaac smiled at her words, then laid his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her toward him to softly kiss her lips. He never thought he would have this type of life. A life filled with friends who cared, a girl who loved him with all her heart. It's a life he always hoped to have, but never thought he would be lucky enough to have. It's a life he never wanted to lose.

"I love you." Isaac mumbled against her lips.

"I love you, too." Teagan whispered back. She laid her hands on the side of his face, as she added,"Thank you for saving me by the way. I love you for that, but I hate knowing I was the reason you were here."

"I'm not." Isaac said, as he shook his head. "I would do whatever to save you a million times over, Teagan. I will always save you."

She glanced down for a moment, laying her hand on his chest, as she quietly asked,"Were you in pain the whole time?"

Isaac shook his head, as he said,"Not the whole time. Most of the time I was out of it, like I wasn't even in my body anymore or something. I don't know, it's hard to explain, I guess."

"Where were you then?" Teagan questioned.

"Looking for you." Isaac answered. "Most of the time I was searching for you. One time I was at school and I found you in the bathroom." He smiled, before continuing,"I guess that's our place or something, but I found you there, then I don't remember what happened after that. Next thing I remember is being with you at the hospital, but then you disappeared so I was looking for you again and I-" When he saw the look on her face, he paused, as he asked,"What? What is it?"

When he saw her take a couple deep breaths and heard her heart racing, he laid a hand on the side of her face, as he added,"Teagan, babe, talk to me."

"It happened. I-I don't know how it happened, but it happened." She mumbled.

"What happened?" Isaac questioned.

"While you were out, I had a nightmare." Teagan said. She explained to him about the alternate type world she was in, and how they found each other, only to lose each other again. She told him about being in Eichen House and worried she would not making it back to her real life. When she explained how she stood up to her mother and made it back on her own, he smiled.

"I knew my girl was a badass." He said, still smiling. "I knew you were stronger than her, babe, I know you can fight her, no matter what; you have to keep fighting her."

"I'm trying, but it's hard." Teagan admitted. "And standing up to her, just made her madder. I took her by surprise, but I won't be able to do it again." She said, repeating the words her mother had been yelling in her head since she woke up.

"You can do it, Teagan." Isaac said, as he grabbed one of her hands, intertwining their fingers. "We'll do it together, she won't know what hit her."

Teagan softly smiled at his words, she wished she could believe in that like he did, but she knew he believed enough for both of them. Either way, she was grateful.

She leaned down, pressing her lips against his for a gentle kiss. She felt him laid a hand on the back of her head, pulling her closing, as he tangled his fingers in her hair. The two quickly got lost in each other, neither one hearing the door open until Avery called out, getting their attention.

"Should you two really be doing that now?" Avery joked, as she walked further in to the room. Even if she was joking with them, Teagan noticed she didn't seem like herself. She didn't know what happened to her at Eichen House, but whatever it was, it couldn't have been good.

Teagan opened her mouth to ask Avery if she was okay, but before she could say a word, Avery looked over at Isaac, as she said,"It's good to see you awake, Isaac."

"Thanks." Isaac said, as he smiled at her. "I hear I also need to thank you for helping out in the parking lot." He added. Teagan had told him what Avery did for him before he was wheeled inside the hospital. He was grateful she saved him, but was worried what something like that did to her. Even he could tell she didn't look like the same old Avery.

"No need to thank me." Avery said. She knew how important he was to Teagan, she knew how badly her best friend needed him. Teagan needed her anchor to keep her grounded. If anything happened, she at least needed to know Teagan would be left in good hands.

"Besides we would all be lost without your awkward comments." Avery pointed out, as she gave him a smile, one that they both noticed didn't fully reach her eyes.

"Awkward comments? When do I make awkward comments?" Isaac questioned, as he looked at Avery, then over at his girlfriend, waiting for one of the girls to answer.

"When don't you make awkward comments." Avery said back.

"But I love your awkward comments." Teagan added, as she gave him a quick kiss before chuckling at the expression on his face.

"Well, thanks, I guess." Isaac said with a shrug. He smiled at both girls, then pulled Teagan closer toward him.

As Teagan laid her head on his chest, Avery turned her head to look out the window, her mind going back to Eichen house. She wrapped her arms around herself, remembering what the nogitsune did to her. The pain and suffering he took, the memories that she tried so hard to push away, now no matter how hard she tried she couldn't push them away like before. All she could do was relive them over and over again.

"As happy as I am to see you, A. I have a feeling there is another reason why you are here." Teagan spoke up, getting her friend's attention.

Avery nodded her head, then explained about how they needed a scroll and with it they should be able to help Stiles. She paused for a moment, then told them how they needed to get the scroll, by stealing it.

"So you all are going to rob an armored car?" Isaac questioned, as he looked at Avery.

"Yeah and we can use all the help we can get." Avery said, as she looked at Teagan with no emotion on her face.

"What? Me?" Teagan asked, as she pointed to herself. She looked over at Isaac, then back at Avery, unsure about what she should do. She wanted to help her friends and she definitely wanted to help Stiles. She knew what it felt like to have someone inside you, forcing you to do things against your will, but she also just got Isaac back and hated the thought of leaving him.

"You should go." Isaac said, as he grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.

"But-"

"It's okay." Isaac interrupted her. He leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers, as he whispered,"I'll be right here waiting for you."

"I'll come back. I promise, I'll be right back." Teagan whispered back.

"I know." Isaac said. He pulled back to look at her, softly kissing her lips, as he mumbled out,"It's you and me."

"It's you and me." Teagan whispered back.

She gave him one more kiss, then stood up from the bed. She followed Avery to the door, glancing behind her to look at Isaac one more time before walking out the door. She hated leaving him, but deep down she knew she was doing the right thing. She knew she needed to help her friends.

"I know you didn't want to leave." Avery said, as the two walked down the hall heading for the exit.

"No, but we need to do this. We need to save Stiles." Teagan said back.

"I just hope we're not too late." Avery mumbled, as she thought back to what happened with the nogitsune. She looked into his eyes, not seeing Stiles anymore, but an empty void. She hoped there was still enough Stiles inside to save.

"A.." Teagan began to say, as she stopped then reached out to grab Avery's arm; pulling her out of her thoughts and causing her to jump for a moment in surprise. Her reaction just worried her even more.

"A, what happened at Eichen house?" She questioned.

"Too much." Avery answered vaguely before she turned and began to walk down the hallway again without another word.

Teagan shook her head in concern, then rushed down the hall to catch up. The two friends heading down the hall side by side, as if they were ready for battle, and in a way it was, they were in the middle of a battle to save one of their friends. A battle neither girl wanted to lose.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN – Thank you all for reading! We both really hope you liked the chapter and would like to take a moment to thank all of you who have been so kind to leave us reviews! ^_^ And thank those of you who have added this story to your favorites and/or subscribed for update alerts. We both really appreciate the support!**


	28. Not The Best Plan

**Chapter 28 - Not The Best Plan**

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><p>"This is a really bad plan." Scott said as he looked around the room at his group of friends.<p>

"It's not that bad." Lydia argued, trying to remain hopeful.

"It's not that good of a plan." Ethan pointed out.

With a sigh Teagan said, "It's not the greatest… but probably not our worst plan either."

Scott raised his head and looked at Avery as he thought of her locking herself in Eichen House to keep an eye on Stiles as he said, "Definitely not the worst plan we've had."

"Look." Avery breathed as she stepped away from the window where she'd been staring outside, almost seeming to have been in a trance, "It's impossible to know which route the truck is going to take, so we need to plant a GPS trackers on the armored car, then we can follow it."

Looking down at the map on the desk, Allison pointed to a spot she'd marked and said, "So when they get here…"

"We attack them." Aiden offered a solution from where he sat in an arm chair.

"No… especially because have no idea which officers are going to be in charge of moving evidence." Avery said with her arms crossed over her chest.

"We have a plan and it doesn't involve attacking anyone." Teagan said to the twin as she sat down in the desk chair.

"Your bikes will be in the middle of the road, looking like you guys got into an accident. When the driver gets out to help…" Lydia tried to explain, but Aiden cut her off. "Then we'll attack him."

"No!" Avery, Teagan and Allison all yelled at the former Apha, causing him to sigh and look down irritated like he honestly didn't see a problem with his plan.

"You'll distract him." Lydia asserted, shaking her head at him.

"Then Scott will break open the back door." Allison said nodding to him.

"I hope…" He said, not sure how secure an armored truck would be and if he'd be able to break into the back of it or not.

"Then we'll raid the truck and get Katashi's finger." Avery said as she looked at the time on her cellphone and slid it back into her jean pocket, she'd came dressed in clothes that would be easy to move around in.

"It's not his actual finger, is it…" Ethan questioned the group of friends with a disgusted look on his face.

"It's a silver finger… a prosthetic." Teagan explained, then said, "But it doesn't matter, even if it was the entire finger, we'd still have to take it."

"Exactly." Avery agreed.

Ethan looked between them, motioning back and forth with his finger as he asked the best friends in a disbelieving tone, "You two… you would steal somebody's severed finger?"

They heard Aiden let out a muffled laugh from the chair in response to his brother's question.

"To save Stiles, yeah." Teagan nodded as Avery said, "Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux-mêmes."

With a small smile at Avery and Allison, Teagan repeated their code, "Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux-mêmes."

But when her friends didn't smile back she asked, "What…"

"Why did you say that?" Allison asked her forehead lined with confusion.

"It's our code…" Teagan whispered out, fearing she hadn't said what she thought she had.

"Your code is kill or be killed?" Lydia asked with arched eyebrows as she easily translated the French statement.

Teagan snapped her gaze over to Avery who gave her a sympathetic look, letting her know that was exactly what she had said.

"Okay." Aiden said as he stood up, "You're telling me that we can't attack the driver of the truck, but you get to live by some code of kill or be killed?"

"That's not our code… it's not my code…" Teagan whispered as she pinned her eyes shut and stammered out, "It can't be my code –it can't… I can't…"

"Teagan, you're okay!" Allison said as she rubbed her friend's arm and tried to calm her down as Avery argued with the twins about something she wasn't even paying attention too.

"I didn't –I didn't mean to say that." She pleaded for her friends' to believe her, but she wasn't even sure she trusted anything she said or did anymore.

"I know you didn't… it's okay, it's going to be okay." Allison continued to try and soothe her.

Teagan took in a few, deep calming breaths to try and regain her focus. They had a mission for the day, get the scroll from Katashi's silver finger in hopes that it would have a way to save Stiles.

"I'm okay." Teagan said nodding to Allison and Scott who were now both hovering over her with matching concerned faces.

Turning her head from them to avoid the sympathetic looks they were giving her, like the knew she was going crazy and felt bad for her, she was so tired of seeing that expression on her friends faces.

"I'm just saying, if Stiles' dad is the cop you guys care about why can't we attack the driver as long as he's not one of them?" Aiden said, speaking loudly over Avery as she bickered with his brother.

Snapping her gaze to him she opened her mouth but Aiden kept talking, "Unless there is someone else on the force you're worried about?"

A little too quickly she responded, "No, of course not! Don't be ridiculous, Aiden."

Teagan almost let out a laugh as she realized Avery was secretly worried about Deputy Parrish, quickly covering the small chuckle she said, "Because we're trying to save Stiles, we're not going there to hurt anyone."

Looking over at her Ethan said, "Why aren't we just going to Stilinski for help?"

Leaning over the desk slightly Scott pointed out, "Because if he gets caught then it's the sheriff tampering with federal evidence."

"Guys, this is going to work. We can do this, we're losing Stiles… my dads in jail for murder. We need to do this." Allison told the group as she got into her dads desk and pulled out one of the gps trackers for them to put on the truck.

"Is Kira helping us?" Avery asked, looking around and realizing they were one person short.

"No, she's talking to her parents… I'm supposed to meet up with her tonight." Scott explained as he looked at her.

The blonde nodded and looked at the time on her phone as she said, "Well, we better get going then."

**~()~**

Lowering the crossbow she'd been using the lens of to get a better look at the armored truck, Avery looked over to where Teagan was knelt down beside her and said, "You're up, T."

Nodding Teagan looked down to the gps unit in her hand and took a deep breath before sprinting towards the truck and successfully attaching it to the underside of the truck.

Avery smiled proudly at her best friend as she handed the crossbow back to Allison who was perched down behind her on the pavement between 2 patrol cars in the parking lot.

Scott looked over at his friends before glancing back towards the truck when he heard a door open and he said, "We didn't plan for a second officer!"

Avery looked back to Teagan trying to hide behind one of the large tires and looking back towards her friends with a questioning look on her face, she was essentially trapped.

"What do we do?" Allison breathed, knowing they couldn't leave Teagan on her own, she could get arrested for tampering with the truck and federal evidence.

"Call Lydia… have Ethan and Aiden cause a bigger distraction, they should just be up the road." Avery whispered, the she realized who the other officer was as he came down the stairs towards the truck.

"There's not time to call." Scott argued as he looked at Allison who was fumbling to get her phone out of her pocket.

"It's okay… I'll take one for the team, I'll distract him." Avery offered as she started to stand up and head towards Parrish, but Scott pulled her back to the rain slicked pavement and said, "How are you going to do that?"

"Please… I'm Avery Dukate." She said to him with an arched brow as she pulled from his grip and stood up, but as she started to move out from between the cars she saw the young deputy jump back from the truck and drawn his gun.

Dropping back to the ground she breathed, "Something is wrong… we have to get Teagan away from there, now!"

The trio held their breath as they watched Parrish slowly make his way around the truck with his gun drawn, but his attention was drew over towards them when Avery breathed, "Screw it." And stood up.

He'd barely seen someone by the patrol cars, before the back of the truck was opened from the inside and a man jumped out, taking the young officer by surprise and quickly over powering him, before violently bashing Parrish's head against the metal truck and letting his body crumple to the ground.

"Who the hell is that…" Scott asked, seeing the large imposing figure of a man.

"Kincaid." Allison explained, remembering the meeting they'd had with Katashi.

But Avery didn't hear her as her gaze moved from the deputy's motionless body up to the one who'd hurt him. Scott's attention snapped to Avery as he heard her let out a noise similar to a growl, and he immediately knew she was going to go after the guy.

"Avery, wait!" He yelled as he ran after her stopping her as she almost reached the werewolf.

The older wolf surveyed the group of teens as Teagan snuck up onto the roof of the large truck, knowing that after the fight with Kincaid before, they might need the element of surprise to gain the upper hand. Once on the roof she looked down to Parrish's body and then over to Avery who looked like she was about to sprout claws and teeth to take revenge for that on Kincaid.

"We need that finger." Scott said, eyeing the silver prosthetic the other wolf had removed from an official evidence bag.

Allison kept him in the sight of her crossbow as he took a step closer and let out a menacing laugh, "Why should I give it to you?"

"There's a briefcase in there with $150,000 in it." Allison pointed out, nodding to the truck behind him, then looking to where Scott had ahold on Avery's arm, physically restraining her from lunging forward.

"The scroll inside this prosthetic finger is worth 3 million." Kincaid smugly said to them.

"Well, unfortunately for you, that scroll happens to be what we need." Avery hissed as she tried to move again, but Scott pulled her back, hoping to avoid a fight with the wolf.

"Give me the finger." Scott ordered, causing even his friends to look at him, sighing he rolled his eyes and cleared the air, "You know what I mean."

When it became clear he wasn't going to cooperate, Teagan moved into position and leapt off the top of the truck, wrapping her arms around his neck in an attempt to subdue and weaken him.

But he easily flipped her small frame off of him, where he tossed her against a cement barrier and she gasped in pain, holding onto her now bruised hip.

"I guess negotiations are over!" He yelled, letting out a loud growl as his eyes glowed blue and his fangs showed.

Scott started to fight the other werewolf, and Avery rushed to her best friend's side, pulling her to her feet as she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Teagan breathed through the pain as she looked up and saw Allison fire a few arrows, but Kincaid pulled them out and dropped them to the ground before hitting Scott with such force that he went flying several feet back.

The wolf started to move towards Scott, as the alpha struggled to his feet Avery lunged forward pulling her daggers from her pockets where she managed to slice the wolf a few times before he grabbed her by her neck and lifted her up off the ground, where she gasped in pain and dropped her weapons as she grabbed onto his arm and kicked her feet.

Teagan charged back at him, but he took her by surprise as she swung his other arm to the side, where it collided violently with the side of her face with force enough to completely spin her body around before she landed to the ground.

Raising up she held onto her cheek, from as bad as it hurt for a moment she feared he'd gotten hit with his claws, but there was no blood when she felt her face.

"Oh my god!" Lydia gasped running to her friends.

Teagan's eyesight was blurry for a few seconds while she blinked rapidly, then she saw Avery was a few feet away from her on all fours, coughing and trying to catch her breath.

Lydia and Teagan both helped the blonde to her feet where she angrily muttered about how she'd kill him, before she realized one of her knives had landed only a few inches from the fallen deputy's face; he was laying unconscious and defenseless right in the middle of the danger zone as Scott repeatedly tried to fight back against Kincaid but his hits seemed to have no effect on the beta.

As Kincaid sent Allison's body flying backwards with a loud thud against the metal railing of the stairs, Avery knew they needed to get Parrish our of harms way.

"We need to get him out of there…" Avery hoarsely said to Teagan as she pointed to Parrish.

Nodding to her best friend both girls ignored Lydia's protests as they ducked behind Scott and both grabbed onto the deputy's jacket to pull him beside the truck to safety.

Kincaid had overpowered Scott, and was leaned over the injured alpha as he growled, "You have the eyes of an alpha but where's the strength?"

"Up here!" One of the twins yelled from a tall cement landing of stairs outside the building, the brothers jumped the railing and took over the fight with Kincaid as Avery darted towards her nearest dagger and picked it up, spinning it around her finger with ease and Teagan retrieved Allison's crossbow from the ground as she looked over to see Allison and Lydia standing off to the side watching the fight.

The twins held their own better than anyone else in the fight, but Kincaid was still too powerful. Taking a deep breath and letting it out Teagan focused the crosshairs on his leg and shot an arrow right into his thigh. With a hiss of pain his gaze snapped to her, but taking his eyes off the twins was a mistake as they each grabbed an arm, and with Teagan's help of firing a shot into his other leg, they forced him to his knees.

Avery stepped up behind him with her blade to his neck as the twins kept him down and his claws at bay, with Teagan facing them crossbow in hand and another arrow at the ready in case he tried to fight back again.

"Guys, stop!" Scott yelled spitting up some blood as he pulled himself to his feet.

But when they didn't stop and Lydia saw an unfamiliar look in her blonde best friends eyes, she shrieked, "Stop!"

"You want him to come after us?" Ethan asked looking over to Lydia.

Aiden glanced down to the weakened wolf and then back to Avery as he said, "Do it."

Teagan's eyes widened as she saw Avery's grip tighten on the knife and she realized her friend might really kill him, there was a look in Avery's eyes that scared her.

"Aiden, Avery, no!" Scott yelled running towards them and stopping next to Teagan as he realized they were actually going to kill the beta.

"Scott, trust us. We've seen guys like this… he's dangerous!" Aiden yelled before instructing Avery, "Just do it."

"We're dangerous too, and he looks smart enough to remember that." Scott reasoned looking over as Teagan nodded and lowered the cross bow, but both Avery and the twins held their ground.

"Guys…" He started to say but Avery cut him off, her voice was cold and emotionless as she said, "Get the scroll, the finger is in his pocket."

"Put the knife down." Scott said taking a step forward, feeling almost like he was trying to negotiate with a stranger. He wasn't sure what it was, but ever since Avery had left Eichen, she hadn't been the same."

"Get the scroll." She repeated, clearly not backing down.

Keeping his eyes on her he stepped forward and pulled the finger from Kincaid's pocket, as he removed the scroll and let the silver prosthetic fall to the ground.

"Let him go." Scott said, at the same time Teagan's brown eyes pleaded with her best friend, "Think about what you're doing, A. You're really going to slaughter someone?"

Avery's eyes seemed darker than normal as she stared blankly back at her and said, "Kill or be killed, right?"

The crossbow fell to the ground with a clank, and the brunette took a stumbling step backwards, where Scott barely caught her before she hit the ground. With furrowed brows she fought for a breath, hearing the words leave her best friend's mouth had literally knocked the air from her lungs.

Seeing her expression Avery seemed to snap back as she dropped the knife and took a step back too as she breathed, "Oh my god… I'm so sorry, I –I'm sorry."

As the brothers let go of Kincaid, the beaten wolf left without another word to any of them.

"We need to get out of here before the cops show up…" Allison pointed out, breaking the stillness of the night.

Avery looked to Teagan who was still recovering as she said, "You guys go on…"

"Without you?" Lydia asked confused as she walked forward, trying to understand what was happening.

"He's, uh…" She breathed nodding back to the fallen deputy, "He's been out a while, someone should stay with him, until help gets there."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea…" Scott said worried about both of his friends as he looked between them.

"Just get her out of here… I –I've caused enough damage." She said, her voice strained and hoarse.

"Avery." Allison said as she started towards her but jumped when the blonde yelled, "I said just go!"

Gathering the weapons from the pavement, Allison followed behind Lydia and Scott and as they lead Teagan towards the parking lot.

**~()~**

After leaving her friends, Teagan drove back to the hospital to be with Isaac. She parked the car, then let out a heavy sigh. They weren't expecting Kincaid to be there or for a fight to break out. She glanced in the mirror, touching the side of her face and seeing a light bruise forming.

Her face wasn't hurting that much, thankfully, but her hip on the other hand was killing her. She wasn't even sure if she could walk into the hospital it was hurting so badly, She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking of Isaac and gaining strength to make it to him.

She slowly made her way inside the building and stepped into the elevator, hitting the button for the floor he was on. As the elevator began to go up, she folded her arms and leaned back against the wall to rest.

Thinking back to earlier events, she shook her head, remembering the words Avery had said. The words that have been haunting her for weeks. It was already hard enough hearing the words in her mind from her mother, but to hear it coming from her best friend's mouth was unsettling. Actually the way Avery was acting in general was unsettling.

Hearing the elevator music fading in and out, she lifted her head, looking at the speaker. Her breathing began to pick up as she remembered the time in the elevator at the Argents' when she began to hear things then ended up in a hallucination in a morgue. She had no doubt her mother was trying to reach out to her again. She might have been strong enough to battle her mother recently and escape the hallucination when she placed her in a alternate world, but that didn't stop her from still torturing her.

"No, not now. Please just leave me alone." Teagan whispered to her, as she squeezed her eyes close. After the night she had, she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to fight against her mother and ignore her words.

"What happened tonight, sweet girl?" Her mother questioned, taunting her. "You're running out of time, Teagan. Tonight could have been so much worst for you. Tonight could have been the end of you."

Teagan opened her eyes and gasp when she saw her mother standing in front of her. She shook her head, as she tried to sound brave and said,"We-We got it. We got the scroll. Everything is going to be okay."

"I don't know if I should laugh at you or pity you. You are not going to win, Teagan, all you're going to do is get yourself killed." Lisa pointed out. "Look at how Avery turned on you tonight, using your own code against you."

"That's not my code. That is your code! And I will never kill my friends!" Teagan yelled out.

"How long until Avery really does turn on you? Or the others? You need to take them out first, before they hurt you." Lisa said, ignoring her comment. When Teagan shook her head, she reached out and poked her sore hip, causing her to cry out in pain.

Lisa ignored her daughter's cries, as she added,"Look at tonight, all those strong werewolves, yet you got hurt. Why was no one helping you? Protecting you? Where was your pack, Teagan?"

"They-They were there. They were helping, we were all doing the best we could." Teagan argued.

"Were they? Or is that the lies you tell yourself so you don't have to face the truth." Lisa said back. "The truth is, they don't care, Teagan. They will use you and use you, but when you need them, they won't be there. I did so much to help Aleine, helping the Hales, but who helped me when the alpha pack showed up? I was alone, Teagan. No one jumped forward to help me. After all I did for them, for this monstrous world, no one saved me. I died! Alone!"

She stepped closer to Teagan, her face soften for a moment as she reached out to lightly caress her cheek, and say,"They took me from you, from your father, from the life we were suppose to have."

Teagan gasped as she pulled away from her and moved to the other side of the elevator, and in a flash the look was gone from Lisa's face, as she snapped,"No one cares about you! No one cares about your life. You are just a human, you are replaceable to them. They won't be there, they won't protect you. Tuer ou être tué, Teagan."

Teagan squeezed her eyes closed, as she shook her head, quietly mumbling to herself the words that always helped. The four words that always got her through anything, 'It's you and me.'

She could hear her mother yelling and screaming at her, trying to get through to her, but she kept repeating the words to herself, trying to block her mother out, until finally things went silent before she heard a ding, causing her to lift her head and see the elevator doors slide open.

Teagan released a breath, then rushed out of the elevator and made her way to the wall across from the elevator. She pressed her face against the wall, trying to catch her breath and try to get control of her emotions.

She whispered to herself a few more times, then pushed away from the way, making her way down the hallway to Isaac's room. She slowly opened the door, trying not to be too loud in case he was sleeping.

She walked over to the bed, looking at him; his face relaxed as he peacefully slept. Just looking at him gave her strength. She reached up to wipe the tears from her face, then turned to walk over to the chair to sit down, until he opened his eyes to look at her; feeling her presence as soon as she walked in the room.

"Hi." He quietly said, as he gave her a sleepy smile.

"Hi." She whispered back.

"How did it go?" Isaac questioned. He hated that he couldn't go with her to help their friends, but he knew she could handle herself.

"I'll tell you later." Teagan promised, not ready to get into all the details. At the moment there was only one thing she wanted, one thing she needed.

"Are you okay?" He asked, when he saw tears fill her eyes.

Teagan shook her head to answer, before asking,"Can you just hold me?"

"Of course." Isaac said, as he scooted over in the bed, making room for her. "Come here." He whispered, as he reached out to grab her hand.

Teagan laid out in the bed, cuddling against him. She laid her head on his chest as a tear fell down her face. She took a shaky breath, trying not to break down as her mother's words began to echoed in her head.

Deep down she knew she was wrong, she knew her friends would have her back, that Isaac would always be there for her no matter what. She knew she shouldn't listen to her words, she shouldn't believe them. But hearing the same words over and over again was starting to affect her.

Isaac closed his eyes, hearing her heart rate slow down the longer she was with him, but he could still tell she was upset about something. He could smell the salt from her tears.

Not knowing what else to do, he began to run his fingers through her hair, then as if knowing how badly she needed to hear it, he whispered out,"It's you and me, babe. It's always you and me."

Teagan opened her eyes, a small smile on her face at hearing his words. "It's you and me. Always." She whispered back, instantly feeling at ease.

**~()~**

With a heavy sigh Avery walked over and knelt down next to Deputy Parrish as she felt for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief.

Sitting down next to him, she leaned against the side of the truck and gently maneuvered his unconscious body until his head was laying elevated on her legs to make breathing easier until he woke up.

She stared down to his peaceful face and reached down tilting his head to the side some and moving his hair away from a bleeding wound at his hairline, but luckily it didn't look to severe. Continuing to stare down at him she gently trailed a few fingers over the side of his face before she jerked her hand back and closed her eyes trying to ignore the feeling she got whenever their skin touched.

He repeatedly tried to use their age difference as a reason why they couldn't go there, and as much as she tried to play it off like it was mindless flirting with him the truth was being near him gave her a level of comfort and a feeling of warmth that she wasn't used to.

But she couldn't go there, not with him and she knew that. He was possibly the kindest person she'd ever met in her entire life and even if he reciprocated the feelings, it wouldn't last long. Sooner or later he'd start to learn her secrets, he'd find out how bad she was inside and he'd leave; just like everyone always left her in one way or another.

Probably for the best she thought as she resisted the urge to touch his face again and leaned her head against the cold, rain speckled metal truck and closed her burning eyes with thoughts of what she'd said to Teagan, the look of pain she'd caused on her face.

She didn't know who she was anymore or what she was becoming, maybe her worst fears were coming to light, maybe she really was turning into her mother. Most of the time she felt like her thoughts were more cynical than anything even her mom could think up.

She was shaken from her concentration as she heard a small pained groan from Parrish.

Quickly wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes she looked down just as his green eyes slowly and weakly fluttered open, he blinked a few times trying to focus his vision until finally the blurriness went away and he saw her face.

Her eyebrows raised as a small smile appeared on his lips and he continued to stare up at her, not aware of anything else in the world, just that he saw her.

"Jordan…" Avery quietly asked, with an arched brow wondering why he hadn't started to freak out after being attacked and unconscious not to mention, not asking her what she was doing there.

"Yeah?" He asked, his voice soft as he continued to stare at her.

"Oh my god…" She breathed, thinking with the way he was acting he might have memory loss or something worse, "What's todays date?"

"What?" He asked his forehead lined with confusion at the question, but as his skin moved it pulled on the wound and he reached to his hairline, pulling his hand back he looked at the blood on his fingers.

"You're bleeding… but it's really not that bad." She offered with a slightly optimistic look.

She saw all traces of his former calm expression fade as he quickly sat up and looked around, before locating his gun and quickly scrambling to his feet.

With a sigh she leaned her head back against the truck and said, "You don't need that… he's gone."

Parrish pointed his gun in the back of the truck but she was right, no one else was there with them.

"What are you doing here?" He asked poking his head around the truck and looking at the teenager.

"Screwing up everything… yet again." She breathed, thinking back to her exchange of words with Teagan. All she could see was her friend's broken expression before she turned to leave.

Walking back over to her –he knelt down as he asked, "Do you know who did this… they killed the driver."

"Japanese mafia." She admitted avoiding his eyes.

He looked around more confused than before as he asked, "What are you doing here then?"

"I can't answer that." She whispered.

"Why?" He asked, but didn't give her a chance to explain as he guessed, "Is someone threatening you?"

Her eyes opened and she couldn't help but smile at seeing the worried look on his face as he stared at her expectantly. "You're worried about me…"

"Yeah, the mafia in general frightens me." He admitted then leaned down farther as he said, "If someone's threatening you…"

"No one is threatening me. I can't tell you why I'm here because it would be self-incrimination." She vaguely responded.

He opened his mouth but she cut him off as she said, "Pretty sure whatever your next question is, I'll have to plead the 5th to that one too."

With a sigh he tucked his gun in his holster and stood up offering her a hand, which she stared at for a few moments before she gently laid her hand in his, holding her breath at the fluttering that erupted in her stomach as he effortlessly pulled her to her feet.

"I, uh… I didn't want to leave until you woke up." Avery admitted to him, her voice quiet. With the stillness of their surroundings she felt like she needed to whisper.

Rubbing his sore head again he started to say something but then his eyes went to the bruising on her neck and he quickly stepped forward tilting her head to the side as he asked, "What happened?"

"Yakuza." She simply responded with the same answer she'd given him moment s ago.

"Japanese mafia?" He translated from hearing the term around the station. "Is that going to be your answer for everything tonight?" He questioned, still looking at her injured neck.

"Pretty much." She answered, swallowing hard at the feeling of his flesh against hers.

Gently letting go of her they stared at each other in the yellow glow from the streetlight above as he asked, "How is it that you're always in the middle of everything that happens in this town?"

Her eyebrows furrowed at knowing she couldn't give him any kind of an answer, as her defeated gaze dropped to the pavement and she offered a small shrug he watched her intently, wishing she'd just tell him what was going on.

Realizing she wasn't going to give him an answer, or at least not an honest one he said, "I'm going to have to call this in."

She nodded but kept her eyes fixated on the street as he continued, "And they're going to have a lot of questions for you…"

"I know." She answered softly finally lifting her head to make eye contact.

"And tampering with federal evidence is punishable by jail time…" He explained.

"I understand." She said, her tone confident as she nodded in agreement.

"So… you should probably get out of here before I call." He finished, watching her closely as he spoke.

"Really?" Avery asked surprised.

"Yeah… but you need to leave now." He urged, not wanting her to get tangled up in the situation anymore than she'd apparently already been.

She gave him a small smile which he returned before she turned and started back towards the parking lot, only glancing over her shoulder once to see if he was still watching her; he was.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks for reading! ^_^ Don't forget to follow Miss E Charlotte and I on Tumblr.**


	29. Something to Fight For

**Chapter 29 - Something to Fight For**

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><p>Pulling open the door to police station Avery slid her sunglasses up on the top of her head and looked around until her gaze stopped on Deputy Parrish who was standing behind one of the tall desks that held several printers as he stared down to one that was printing documents he needed.<p>

"Good afternoon, Deputy Parrish." Avery greeted as she walked over and laid her purse up on the desk.

"Miss Dukate." He greeted, returning her smile as he then asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Is Chris Argent still being held here?" She asked as she unzipped her designer bag and pulled her wallet out.

"He is…" Parrish answered growing confused.

"Okay, then I'm here to post bail for him and Derek." She nonchalantly said as she unzipped her wallet and pulled out a card.

Glancing down to the wooden surface of the desk for a moment he realized less than an hour ago when Derek Hale had used his phone call for the day, he must have called her.

"I can't let you do that." He said, then pointed out, "You have to be at least 18 to post someone's bail."

With a playful wink she said, "Oh, right…" as she slid him an ID saying she was 23.

He picked the fake ID up and shook his head as he said, "This doesn't count… I know you're under 18."

Letting out a heavy sigh she reached over and tried to pluck the card from his hand but he quickly moved back, keeping it out of her reach.

"Are you kidding me?" She gasped, realizing he wasn't going to give the card back to her.

With an arched brow he reminded her, "Legally, I can't let you keep it."

"What are you… 12 and playing keep away on the freaking playground? Give that back, it's mine!" She argued as she tried to take the card but he moved it back farther.

"You knew I was going to take this." He pointed out, but the look on her face seemed to say she was genuinely shocked that she wasn't getting her way.

Leaning forward over the desk and drumming her nails on the wood she said, "Every time I go back for another one, it makes the guy suspicious…"

"And what's this guys name?" He questioned leaning over the desk as well not backing down.

"Ugh!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air and dramatically letting them fall to her sides, "Don't be such a cop, Jordan."

He glanced around making sure no one was watching them as he reminded her, "I am a cop."

"That doesn't mean you have to be 24-7!" She said, then loudly added, "And if you wanted pictures of me, you could have just asked… you don't need to keep confiscating my IDs!"

He looked over to see a few of the other officers watching them, he gave them a small smile and a nod before turning his attention back to her and sighing, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." She innocently said with a shrug as she peered up at him from under her long, dark lashes.

"Look…" She tried to reason when he kept watching her, "You want to keep that ID, fine. But please just let me bail them out… if it's a matter of the name on the credit card not matching the card on the ID, I have some cash… it should be at least enough to bail Derek out and I can find an ATM and come back with the funds for Mr. Argent too."

His eyes widened as he saw her open another compartment in her wallet seeming stuffed full of bills, "I'm sorry, I wish I could help but… you're a minor, legally you can't post anyone's bail money."

"Well!" she exclaimed as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back with a jolt of attitude, "I'm not leaving until I have bailed them both out.

"It's not going to happen." He assured her with a small shrug, seeming almost amused at her getting angry.

"I'm not leaving without that either." She said as she pointed past him. When he turned his head to see what she was talking about, she quickly leaned over the desk and jerked her card from his hand, but he surprised her when he caught it in mid-air and held on tightly.

"Nice try." He said with a small laugh.

Avery narrowed her eyes, but a smile toyed at the corners of her lips as she said, "Let go…"

Taking a step closer and leaning against the desk between them he couldn't help but smile as he said, "I'm not letting go, I said I can't let you leave with this. You let go."

Her lips pouted in an attempt to stop smiling, but she couldn't as she stepped closer to the desk to and said, "Did you forget who I am, Deputy Parrish?"

His voice was quiet, but matched her flirty tone as he answered, "Not for a second, Miss Dukate."

She ran her tongue over her bottom lip and started to say something else but the moment between them was quickly broken when she heard Derek asked, "Avery?"

Turning around she saw both him and Chris Argent headed for the desk. With her concentration broken, he effortlessly pulled the card from her grip and slid it into his pocket, but she didn't even notice.

"I was just about to call my dad for him to post bail for you both." Avery assured them, her focus mainly as Derek as she spoke, then glancing over to Parrish who was closely watching them she said, "Because apparently, I'm not old enough to do so."

"It's okay." Derek said, glancing over as the young officer kept watching Avery, "The charges were dropped anyways, I was going to call you once I got out of here."

"You were coming to bail me out too?" Mr. Argent asked, surprise in his tone.

Avery watched as the deputy who'd lead them over there, handed the paperwork to Parrish to finish everything up.

"Yeah, well, Derek called me earlier and when I found out you were still being held, I thought; what the hell?" Avery joked with a laugh, causing Allison's dad to smile and shake his head at her.

"We're free to go then?" Derek asked Deputy Parrish, before glancing back to Avery.

"Yeah, if you'll follow me over here, we'll get your belongings." He said as he nodded for them to follow him into a small room with another desk and a box filing system on the shelves behind it.

Avery stood between Chris and Derek as she watched Parrish grab the two boxes belonging to them, before he turned around and gave Derek a hard stare for a moment, then opened his box and started to mark items off on the list as he handed them back.

Derek tucked his cellphone in his pocket and started to count the money in his wallet, as the deputy began to return Chris's things.

As he pulled the taser rod from the box he clicked the button on the side to extend it as he said, "I'm sorry but I can't let you walk out with this. It's way above the legal voltage limit."

"I only use it for hunting." Chris quickly defended glancing over to Derek who shot him an unamused expression as Avery looked down and shook her head.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you could use it to jump start a 747." Deputy Parrish responded without missing a beat.

Turning her attention back to the young deputy Avery asked, "Seriously? What has gotten into you today…"

Fed up with everything that was going on, Chris put his hands on the desk and leaned forward as he said, "This property belongs to me and the charges were dropped." Glancing over to Derek he continued, "Although, I'm not exactly sure who's responsible for that."

"I am." The sheriff said as he walked into the room and told his deputy, "I'll take care of this, Parrish."

Leaning over he said, "Sheriff, I'm not kidding. This thing's a few watts from being a light saber."

Taking the taser from him, he pushed it back together as he sternly said, "I said I'll take care of it."

Then he told the rest of them to follow him to his office, but Avery cleared her throat and said, "I want my property back too."

Everyone looked at her and she held out an expectant hand to the deputy but he reminded her, "I said you're not getting it back."

"What's going on?" Sheriff Stilinski asked, looking between them. Moments ago he'd seen them out in the station when they were both holding on to the card.

Pulling her ID from his pocket he handed it to his higher ranking officer and said, "It's a fake ID, sir."

"It's my property!" She asserted, trying the same approach that Chris had and hoping to achieve the same results.

Taking the plastic card from his deputy, Sheriff Stilinski looked at it and said, "Yeah… you're not leaving with this."

"That isn't fair." She argued.

"And, uh, why do you even have this?" He asked, giving her the same fatherly, stern look that she'd seen him give Stiles on more than one occasion.

"To… vote." She lied with a wide smile as she faced her friend's dad, "I'm really into politics…"

"Mhmm." He hummed, clearly not believing her as he handed the card back to his deputy.

**~()~**

Avery glanced over her shoulder through the open blinds on one of the windows in the sheriff's office leading out into the rest of the station and saw Parrish was watching them from the desk she'd originally talked to him at, when she saw Derek look at her and then towards the window she quickly looked back to the MRI scan images and asked, "Is that even possible? I mean two people can't have the same exact results, right?"

"Exactly." The sheriff said as he looked down to the brain scans, one was Stiles' and the other belonged to his wife, then he handed Chris the slides and said, "It's not even in the ball park of possible."

"So the trickster is still playing tricks?" Chris asked dropping the scans back on the desk.

"But why this trick?" Derek questioned.

"When I was in the Army, an officer told me; if you want to defeat your enemy, you don't take away their courage. You take away their hope." Sheriff Stilinski said as he looked between the trio across the desk from him.

"You don't look like a man who gives up hope easily." Chris pointed out.

Nodding he reasoned, "But Stiles might. And if this… thing inside him, if it's using his mother's disease against him as some sort of psychological trick, then this isn't just a fight for his body. It's also a fight for his mind, right?"

"You know he's left people severely injured?" Chris pointed out as he glanced back down to the brain scans.

"And other severely dead." Derek added with a somber expression.

"No." Avery shook her head back and forth, "That wasn't Stiles, okay? It's the thing possessing him, they are 2 different beings."

"That's why I need help." The sheriff admitted, "I need people who are experienced in this kind of thing. I need you to help me stop him."

Letting out a heavy breath, Chris Argent asked, "And by stop him, you mean trap him."

Stiles' dad nodded as he held out the taser rod to him as a sign that he was trusting him.

"Okay." Avery breathed as she took out her phone and said, "I'll call Teagan, have her meet us as your place." She said nodding to Chris.

"Call Allison too, have her gather up the things we need, we don't have time to waste… it's going to be dark soon." He instructed, Avery nodded as she put her phone to her ear and started from the station, only glancing back at Parrish once.

"I'll meet you there." The sheriff excused himself, "I need to take care of something first."

As the trio made their way outside of the building and to Avery's car he watched as Parrish glanced out of the window before he started to gather the papers he'd printed off and asked, "Parrish, you got a sec?"

"Allison said she'll have everything non-lethal and a map rounded up by the time we get there and Teagan's going to be leaving the hospital soon." Avery said as she opened her car door.

"How's Isaac?" Derek questioned walking over to the passenger side of the car.

"Still healing… but he's doing better." She answered, then paused as she saw both Derek and Chris reach for the passenger door and then sigh at each other in unison.

Cracking a smile she said, "Sorry guys, but someone is going to have to sit in the back…"

They both continued to stare at each other waiting for the other to back down, but neither one did.

"We could flip a coin?" She offered holding back a laugh as they both looked at her.

"You're worse than kids, we're trying to save lives here!" She exclaimed, then said, "Fine, pick a number between 1 and 100."

"This is ridiculous…" Derek breathed.

"It's my car!" she said, "Now pick a number!"

"70." Chris sighed rolling his eyes.

"49." Derek guessed with an annoyed expression.

"Sorry Derek, you get the backseat. The number was 65… just like the year of my car, you should have known that." Avery said as she got into her car and loudly pulled the door shut behind her.

~**()~**

After running a quick errand, Teagan slowly opened the door to Isaac's room and poked her head in, seeing that he was sleeping. She made her way inside the hospital room, quietly closing the door; hoping to not wake him up, but he caught her scent as soon as she walked in, causing him to slowly open his eyes.

"Hi, sorry, didn't mean to wake you." Teagan whispered, as she kept her hands behind her back.

"It's okay. I like waking up to your beautiful face." Isaac said, as he flashed her a sleepy smile.

Teagan smiled at his words, before saying,"Guess what I have?"

Isaac sniffed for a moment, at first all he could smell was her scent, but then he caught a whiff of something else; something that made his stomach growl. "Food. Real food." He answered with a smile.

"You are correct." Teagan said, as she pulled a bag from behind her back. She walked over to the bed, handing him the bag, as she added,"I went by that place that we love, the one near my house, and got you that burger you love so much."

"You are the best, babe." Isaac said, as he sat up in the bed.

Teagan pulled his burger out, then reached inside the bag again, as she said,"I also got you curly fries with cheese on top. I know how much you love those too."

When she sat the box of curly fries down, she noticed the look he was giving her, causing her to ask him,"What? What is that look for?"

"The fries I love? Don't you mean the fries you love." Isaac pointed out.

"But you always order them. I thought that meant you love them." Teagan said back.

Isaac chuckled, as he said,"I always order them for you cause I know how much you love them, but I never actually get any."

"Well, here. You can have one now." Teagan said with a smile, as she picked up a curly fry and held it up near his mouth.

He grinned at her before biting into the fry, pulling it from her hand. He began to laugh, as she smeared the cheese sauce across his mouth. He pulled his head back, another laugh escaping his lips, as he said,"Okay, okay, that's enough."

"It's good though, right?" Teagan asked with a laugh, as she stuck her thumb in her mouth, licking off the cheese sauce.

"From what I tasted, yeah it's good." Isaac said back. He nodded his head toward the bag, as he asked,"Do you have napkins?"

When she nodded her head, he asked her to give him one, but as she held it out, he quickly grabbed her wrist, pulling her toward him, as he rubbed his face against hers, spreading the cheese sauce on to her face, causing her to squeal out in surprise.

After getting most of the cheese sauce on her, he pressed his lips against hers for a kiss, chuckling against her lips before pulling back and look at her. She shook her head at him, laughing, before saying,"That was really uncalled for."

"Not as fun when it happens to you, huh?" Isaac teased, as he grinned at her. He took the napkin from her hand, then held it out, as he said,"I think you need this, babe."

"I should make you clean it off." Teagan playfully said, as she wiped the cheese sauce from the side of her face.

"I'm good with that. I could lick it off. You know I love licking things off of you." Isaac said back, as he shot her a wink, causing her to blush. "Although I prefer chocolate or whip cream, but cheese is good. I've heard cheese makes everything better."

Teagan bit her bottom lip and shook her head at his comment. She had missed this; the moments they laughed or joked. They didn't get to have those moments much anymore with everything going on.

He was healing a little more every day, causing him to act more like himself. In moments like this, she could almost forget how close she came to losing him, she could almost forget they were even in a hospital; for a brief moment she could almost forget about her mother screaming in her head and the fact that she was losing herself a little more every day.

As she rubbed the cheese off the other side of her face, she softly hissed, when she hit a small bruise on her jaw from going up against Kincaid the night before. It had faded a lot, but was still a little sore, same with the bruise on her hip.

"You okay?" Isaac asked, hearing the noise she made.

"Yeah, just battle wounds." Teagan quietly said, as she pointed to the bruise for a moment, before sitting down carefully in the chair beside the bed.

"How's your hip?" He questioned with a concern look on his face.

"Better, just sore." Teagan answered.

"I should have been there." Isaac stated, as he sat his food aside. Hating that he wasn't there that night to help his friends, to protect her. He knew she was strong and could handle herself, but he hated seeing her hobbling into his room later that night after the pack fought Kincaid.

"No you shouldn't. You are exactly where you need to be." Teagan pointed out, as she sat up in the chair, leaning closer to the bed.

He reached out to grab her hand, as he said,"I can take some of the pain away for you."

Teagan quickly pulled her hand away, as she said,"No, you won't." She slowly shook her head, as she continued."You are still healing, the last thing you need to do is take on any more pain. I'll be okay, but I just need you to get better."

"Okay." Isaac said, as he nodded his head. "But promise me, if you're in too much pain you'll ask Scott to take some away."

"I will." She said. "But your girl is strong, remember? I'll be okay." She added with a smile.

Isaac smiled back, as he reached out to grab her hand. He pulled her toward him, pressing his lips against hers for a gentle kiss, before mumbled against her lips,"My girl is a badass."

"She is pretty badass." Teagan said, agreeing with him, as she chuckled. "She also loves you very, very much."

"I love you, too." Isaac softly said, as he grinned against her lips. He pressed his lips against hers for another kiss, as he laid his hands on the back of her head, intertwining his fingers in her hair.

"Your food is getting cold." Teagan whispered out, against his lips.

"I don't care." Isaac mumbled before he nibbled on her bottom lip, causing her to moan. She was the only thing he craved at the moment, she was all he wanted.

"Isaac.." She breathed out, planning to tell him they shouldn't do this; not now, not while he was still healing, but when he kissing down the side of her neck, lightly nibbling on he skin, that thought quickly left her mind.

She grabbed on to his arms as she threw her head back with a moan, giving him better access. He grinned against her skin, before he began to kiss her neck again.

"Come here." Isaac whispered, as he laid his hands on her sides, pulling her toward him. She climbed on to the bed, straddling him while sitting up on her knees, scared to put any of her weight on him.

He pulled back for a moment to look at her, the two locking eyes, as he reached out to unbutton her shirt. He slowly unbutton each one, never taking his eyes off of her, until each button was undone and he could slowly open her shirt up.

He glanced down for a moment, looking at the light blue bra she had on and her bare stomach, then raised his eyes back up to look at her face. He laid a hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek, then leaned forward to press his lips against the small bruise on the other side of her face, as if he could take away the mark with his love alone.

Teagan closed her eyes and tilted her head back as he began to kiss across her jaw and down the front of her neck. She ran her fingers through his curls, her nails lightly scraping his scalp, causing him to groan out against her skin.

He brushed the shirt from one of her shoulders, as he began to leave light kisses across her bare shoulder. He rested one hand on her waist, moving his other hand to her back, running it up to grab the clasp of her bra, but before he could unhook it, he heard her cell phone beep, letting her know she had a new text message.

Teagan let out sigh, then chuckled when he laid his forehead against her shoulder with an annoyed groan. She kept one hand on the back of his head, playing with his hair, as she used her other hand to reach into her pants pocket to pull out her cell phone.

She quickly read the text message, then let out another sigh, causing him to lift his head and look at her to ask what was wrong.

"It's Avery." Teagan said, then continued,"Derek and Chris are out of jail, now they are all meeting up at the Argents to come up with a plan to find Stiles."

"Meaning..." Isaac began to say, then let out a sigh of his own, as he finished,"You have to go."

Teagan looked away from her phone to look at him, as she said,"I don't want to, but..."

"I know. It's Stiles." Isaac said in understanding. Since she couldn't save herself, he knew how important it was to her that they try to save Stiles.

"Promise me, you'll be careful." He stated, as he placed his hands on either side of her face. "Don't take any risk, don't take any chances." He continued, as he shook his head,"I know you want to save Stiles, but also remember that thing that is inside of him; that part of him, is not really him. You can't talk to that part of him or reason with that part of him. That part, just wants to hurt whoever he gets his hands on."

Teagan nodded her head in understanding. She knew how it felt to have something inside of you, begging you to hurt the ones you love. It wasn't easy fighting with the voice within your mind; the one no one else could hear, the one that made it actually sound appealing to give in even though you knew it was wrong. She remembered the guilt she felt the few times she did give in, the times she did hurt Isaac, and that was a guilt that would never go away.

She didn't want that for Stiles. She knew he had already done some evil things, he had already hurt and killed people, but they had to try to keep him from killing anyone else. With each thing he did she was worried their Stiles was slipping further and further away, meaning they had to do whatever it took to bring him back.

"I need you to come back to me, Teagan." Isaac added. "Completely whole, everything intact and .."

"Sane?" Teagan questioned. Every moment they were apart she was worried; worried that would be the time she finally gave in to her mother and would never be herself again.

"She's not going to win, babe. You're going to keep fighting her and you're never going to give in." Isaac stated. He gave her a sweet kiss, before whispering against her lips,"It's you and me."

"Always." Teagan whispered back.

She rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes as she blew out a breath and tried to ignore her mother's taunts in her head. The ones telling her she was running out of time, that this could be her last moment with her monster boyfriend so enjoy while she could. She was telling her she couldn't save anyone; not Stiles, not herself, so she might as well give up.

Her mother made it sound so simple, just give in to the urges. The world was full of killers and that was the true way to survive. But when she felt Isaac softly touch her face, reminding her exactly what she was fighting for, she smiled. The world might be full of killers, but that didn't mean she had to be one. Beause she had something worth fighting for, she just had to keep reminding herself of that, no matter how hard it got. She had to keep fighting.

**~()~**

Looking at the closed door and growing a bit uneasy, Deputy Parrish took a seat and asked, "Is everything alright?"

Sitting down in his own chair, he cleared his throat before finally asking, "I've seen you and Avery together a lot lately."

"Avery Dukate?" He questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Mhmm…"

Adjusting in the suddenly uncomfortable chair, Deputy Parrish waited for him to continue.

"I know this is probably unnecessary, but I wanted to remind you that even though she doesn't act like it… she is still in high school, and not 18 yet." He spoke in a hushed tone in case any curious officers were lingering outside of the door.

With slightly widened eyes he nodded and said, "I know… I've just been trying to help her…"

"With?"

Scooting around in what he now thought had to be the single most uncomfortable seat ever made he said, "The time that I have spent around Miss Dukate, what I've seen concerns me. I've witnessed her spacing out for long periods of time, I had a run in with her in the park where she'd seen something that wasn't real there and she was terrified –she's brought up having nightmares on an almost nightly basis. I've seen this before…"

"You have?" He asked surprised, thinking that in reality the deputy didn't have the first clue of what could be troubling the teenager.

"It sounds a lot like PTSD to me… I've seen this in the military. Obviously, she's being haunted by something that's happened to her, and she needs to get help with it." Deputy Parrish explained.

"I like you Parrish, I really do. You're a good guy and a hell of a cop, but right now for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with you… the F.B.I is here breathing down our necks and the last thing we need is for one of our officers to be caught messing around with a minor. Not only would that reflect bad on the entire department, but sure as hell wouldn't look good for me either and my job is barely hanging by a thread here." Sheriff Stilinski said as he started to stand up, knowing he needed to get to the Argent's.

"I understand, sir." Parrish said nodding and disappointed in himself for the openly flirty display between himself and the teenager in the station earlier.

"You trying to help her…that's the extent of things between you two?"

"Of course." He replied confidently, not only to assure the higher ranking officer, but also to remind himself that things absolutely couldn't progress past a friendship with her.

Nodding with a smile and accepting the answer the sheriff said, "Well, I hope for her sake that there is some way to help her… to be honest, I'm not so sure it's a simple, clear cut answer like PTSD… nothing in this down is black and white."

**~()~**

After leaving the hospital, Teagan arrived at the building Allison and her father lived in. She rode the elevator up to their floor, then let herself in with the emergency key Allison gave her before.

Hearing voicing coming from the office, she made her way into the room, seeing Stiles' dad, Avery, Allison, Derek and Chris standing around the desk full of weapons. She breathed a sigh a relief when she realized they were all non-lethal weapons.

"Sorry." Teagan breathed out, once she realized she interrupted their conversation. "I got here as soon as I could." She added, as she walked further into the room, standing beside Allison.

"I know it wasn't easy for you to leave him, but we need all the help we can get." Allison said, as she glanced over at her brunette friend.

"It's Stiles." Teagan stated simply, as she glanced around at the group. Chris was on the other side of Allison, while the Sheriff was on her left and Avery was standing with Derek in front of her. "He would be here doing the same thing for any of us." She added.

At hearing Stiles name, Avery wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a slight chill from what happened between them at Eichen house, she knew it wasn't his fault, but that didn't make it easier. No matter what happened though, she knew she had to still try to save him. Like Teagan said, he would do it for them.

"So what's our plan?" Avery questioned, ignoring Derek; who was watching her after he heard her heart rate pick up for a moment before she was able to slow it back down.

"Our best shot right now is for Derek to try to pick up Stiles' scent at Eichen House." Chris answered, as he looked over at the werewolf in question. "Especially if he went through something stressful there." He added.

"Trust me, it was." Avery softly said, as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms.

Teagan silently watched her best friend, curious about what happened at Eichen house. Anytime she tried to ask Avery about it, she would shut down, but she was determined to get her to open up. Especially when she noticed the same looks on her face, that she saw in the mirror every time she looked.

"Should all six of us be going to the same place?" Sheriff questioned, as he looked at the group.

"Where else has Stiles been showing up?" Chris asked.

"School.." Allison said, as she tried to rack her brain on other places he showed up.

"The hospital." Teagan added, helping her to list off places.

"He's getting us to repeat the same moves." Chris pointed out.

"So, what do we do? Wait for him to come to us?" Teagan asked.

"We can't." Avery said back.

Derek nodded his head, agreeing with her, as he added,"Not if the oni find him when the sun goes down."

"Scott's working on them right now, with Kira." Sheriff said.

"That's the problem. We're all trying to outfox the fox." Chris said.

"Listen." Sheriff began to say, as he looked straight ahead at Avery and Derek. He turned his head to the side, looking at Teagan, Allison and Chris, as he continued,"I'll understand if anyone wants to back out."

Avery took a deep breath, trying to push all the negative thoughts aside, as she stood up tall and said,"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not backing out."

Teagan saw a lamp out of the corner of her eye flicker for a moment, causing her to look back over at Avery with a concern look on her face.

"I'm not gonna be the first wolf to run from a fox." Derek said, as he reached forward to grab a weapon from the table.

Teagan grabbed a taser from the table, as she repeated herself from before,"It's Stiles."

"Apparently I'm carrying the lightsaber." Chris stated with a slightly amused look on his face, while holding the taser stick the Sheriff gave back to him earlier before leaving the station.

"Dad, you and Derek hit Eichen House. Teagan and Avery, check the school." Allison said, dividing up all the locations. She glanced over at the Sheriff, as she added,"We're heading for the hospital." She looked back over at her friends, as she continued,"We'll all meet you two at the school, okay?"

"Okay." Avery said, as Teagan nodded her head.

With a plan in mind, Avery and Teagan walked out of the room, with Allison and the Sheriff behind them. Once outside, the two girls walked over to their cars, which were parked beside each other.

"Who's car are we taking?" Teagan questioned.

"Did you seriously just ask that?" Avery asked back, then added,"You know I'm not leaving my car here. Get in."

"Yeah, but are you okay to drive?" Teagan asked.

"What does that mean?" Avery asked with a hint of attitude, as she opened the driver side door.

"It means I'm worried about you, Avery. Something happened-"

"You're right, something did." Avery interrupted. "Stiles is possessed and we need to save him. Now get in the car. We have to make a stop by my house first." She added, as she slide behind the wheel.

Teagan let out a sigh, feeling even more worried about Avery than before, but instead of saying another word, she opened the passenger side door and sat down right as Avery threw the car in drive and speed across the parking lot, knowing they were running out of time.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn ~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Miss E Charlotte and I would like to thank you all for reading our story, we sincerely hope you liked the chapter! ^_^ You're guys' support means so much to us both!**


	30. It Never Stops

**Chapter 30 - It Never Stops**

* * *

><p>Avery took a deep breath as she slowly pushed open the door to a downstairs room and nodded for Teagan to go in as she said, "Just check some of the boxes against the walls… see if there's any journals in there."<p>

Teagan took a step into the room that Avery's mom used to spend a lot of time writing it. As she flipped on the light she saw Aleine's desk was still against the far wall.

"My mom had this… insane wealth of knowledge, maybe she knew and recorded something down about nogitsunes, or even something about possession. I just feel like if we look hard enough we can find something…" The blonde admitted.

"I'll take this side I guess." Teagan said motioning to the side of the room with the desk.

Avery stared down to the threshold of the door but she couldn't bring herself to take a step, no matter how hard she tried – she couldn't gather the strength to walk into the room with her best friend.

"A?" Teagan asked seeing her hesitance."

"Actually… I just remembered I still have a few boxes to go through upstairs, it's probably better if you take this room and I go up there." She said pointing to the ceiling.

Teagan looked around the room confused as she said, "Okay…"

Nodding her friend nearly sprinted off towards the stairs.

Avery walked into the bathroom and leaned over the sink, taking a few deep breaths before she raised her head and looked in the mirror.

"Oh god…" She breathed out with tears in her eyes as a faceless version of herself was reflected in the glass. The same terrifying vision she'd seen in the basement at Eichen house.

And just like the first time, she couldn't force herself to look away, the longer she stared at the faceless blonde, the more entranced she became. Almost feeling like she was being pulled into the mirror; like she was being pulled away. Until her phone rang from her pocket.

Quickly snapping back to reality she found her phone and answered the call from Allison, who explained that they were at Stiles' house and from what they could tell by a chessboard that the nogitsune had moved pieces around on, they needed to meet up at Derek's loft.

As Avery ended the call she turned around, refusing to look in the mirror and gasped when she saw her best friend in the door way.

"Was that Allison?" Teagan asked, then admitted, "I couldn't find anything useful in the room downstairs."

"It's okay… we need to meet up at Derek's anyways." Avery stuttered out as she pushed past Teagan to get out of her bathroom and away from the faceless ghost of herself in the mirror.

As she came to a stop in her room she stared into the large mirror above her dresser and saw the faceless girl again, but she could hear her mom's voice taunting her, "You can't save Stiles, you can't save anyone…"

"Avery!" Teagan yelled as she tried for the 3rd time to get her best friends attention but she was just staring into her mirror, like she was in a trance. "A, come on!"

"I have to try…" Avery whimpered out.

Teagan swallowed hard and looked around, knowing all too well the lost look on her face. Her best friend was seeing something that she wasn't, she was trapped in a nightmare and she knew she had to break her out of it.

"Avery, hey! Listen to me, I'm right here." She pleaded standing in front of her friend and holding onto her friends face, but it was like Avery was staring right through her.

As she continued to stare in the mirror, Avery heard her mother's voice in another haunting reminder that she was fighting a losing battle, "You'll be the death of them all. You were born bad…"

Feeling a sharp pain on her cheek she finally snapped out of it and looked at Teagan shocked as she held onto her face and gasped, "Did you just slap me?"

"I'm sorry…" She apologized, "I was just trying to get out to snap out of it…"

"You… slapped me!" Avery yelled louder, still holding onto her cheek.

"What's going on?" Teagan pushed her for answers, but her friend barely let her speak as she said, "Nothing is going on, I'm fine…"

But her voice trailed off as she started to look back at the mirror.

"Avery!" Teagan yelled, causing her to come back to reality.

"What are you seeing?" Teagan questioned.

"I'm fine."

"Avery stop!" The brunette explained with a frustrated sigh as she grabbed her arm to keep her from walking away.

"We need to get to Derek's." She tried to protest, but Teagan wasn't having it as she said, "You can take a few moments to tell me what's going on with you."

"I can't." Avery admitted, as she shook her head back and forth, "Don't you get it, T? I can't… we need to focus on fixing Stiles and then we need to work on you. I'm okay."

Tears burnt her eyes as Teagan shook her head back and forth, "I hate it when you lie to me, A. It's one of the worst feelings in the world…"

Avery frowned, but commanded herself to keep her eyes fixed on her friend so she wouldn't get pulled into another nightmare.

"You don't have to be strong all of the time." Teagan breathed out, wrapping her arms around herself as she looked around the familiar bedroom and continued, "It's okay to be scared… honestly, I'm terrified. I'm so scared all the time, that… I'm going to hurt Isaac again, or even someone else."

Avery stared at her but didn't talk, so her best friend continued to try and get her to open up as a tear rolled down her cheek and she admitted, "I know you're seeing things because that's the same look on my face when I'm trying to hold onto reality. And… sometimes -most of the time now… I'm scared to sleep, I'm scared to stay awake. No matter what I do my mom is always there and these thoughts I have… they're not mine. Or I don't think they are, I don't know anymore…"

A few tears rolled down Avery's cheeks as she breathed, "Things are that bad for you?"

Teagan shrugged and turned around walking over to the window as she looked out and said, "I can hear her right now… she never stops, she never lets up and I just…I can't even breathe anymore." She pinned her eyes shut as her chin quivered and she admitted, "So, trust me… whatever you're seeing or hearing… whatever it is that is pulling you away, I know what that's like."

When she turned around she saw Avery still standing in the same spot watching her with a pained expression.

Taking in a shaky breath Teagan asked, "What are you seeing?"

"It doesn't matter…" Avery breathed, thinking that it was the truth. Whatever it was she was seeing or going through, it was at the bottom of her list of concerns. She had other things to focus on.

"It matters to me, Avery… please just talk to me." She pleaded, seeing the blonde had essentially shut down in front of her.

When she refused to speak, Teagan's voice cracked as she admitted, "I'm still me, for now at least… but I don't know how much longer I'm going to be me. So please, just let me try to help my best friend while I can…"

Wrapping her arms tighter around herself, Teagan cried out, "I don't know how much longer I can hold on…"

Walking up to her Avery raised her friends head to make her face her as she said, "I will be fine, just as soon as we fix you."

"A…" Teagan started to argue.

"No T, it's your turn to listen" Avery cut her off, "You are not going to slip away into all of this… you're not going to lose yourself because you have too much to hold you… to anchor you here. Isaac loves you more than life itself, and your dad adores you. You have so many friends who love you and too many reasons to let your mom win this battle. So we're going to fight her and we're going to win and shove her ass back to wherever the hell she came from."

Teagan's tears slowed as she saw some of the life and the fight return to her best friend's light brown eyes, but she soon pinned her own eyes shut and let out a helpless breath.

"Is she talking right now?" Avery whispered.

Teagan nodded and licked a salty tear from her lip as she breathed, "I told you… she never stops…"

**~()~**

"I think we're the first ones here." Teagan pointed out as the girls walked into Derek's building.

"Am I the only one who feels like we're walking right into a trap?" Avery questioned as she made sure she had her taser in her pocket.

"No, it feels exactly like a trap." Teagan agreed, her big brown eyes surveying the tall rows of stairs going up the center of the building.

Teagan stopped walking when she felt a hand on her shoulder, swallowing hard she turned around but no one was there.

"_Tuer ou être tué."_

She could hear her mother's voice, echoing off the walls and filling up every space in the building. Spinning in a circle sweat beaded across her forehead and her heart raced inside her chest, it was like she was everywhere. Not a person, not a ghost –it felt like her mother was some all powerful force that had her surrounded and as much as she wanted to run away; she was paralyzed.

"Teagan? I said I feel like I'm walking right into a trap." Avery repeated as she stepped onto the old elevator and hit the button for the top floor, but when her friend still didn't answer, Avery looked over to see the girl she'd gotten onto the elevator with wasn't her best friend; it was the hallowed, faceless reflection of herself.

Gasping she jumped backwards where she bumped into someone, turning around her eyes widened as she saw Stiles standing in the shadows with a smirk on his face.

"Talking to yourself?" He taunted, "You know… I'm really surprised they let you out of Eichen."

Avery frantically looked around for her best friend but Teagan was nowhere to be found, she was alone in the elevator with Stiles –only she knew it wasn't really her friend, it was the nogitsune and she was trapped with him.

"I knew you'd be here… you can't resist trying to save your friend, can you?" He asked with a menacing laugh as he took a few steps towards her and she quickly backed up, but there was only so far she could go until her back collided with the wall, and she realized the elevator wasn't even moving anymore.

"What…what are you doing?" Her words came out jumbled and shaky, the only thing she could think about was the last time she was alone with him and he'd brought all of her pain to the surface to feed off of it.

Glancing down he licked his lips before raising his head with a twisted smile on this his face when he pointed at her and continued to close in as he said, "I have really been looking forward to seeing you again."

Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she shook her head back and forth, "S-stay away from me."

She let out a small whimper as he slapped his hands against the wall on either side of her head, trapping her where she'd back against as he leaned in, his forehead against hers as he breathed out, "The amount of pain you carry… I feel it pulsating off of you…"

Pinning her eyes shut she turned her head to the side refusing to look at him as he tormented her, until finally he took a staggering step backwards and breathed out, "Avery…"

Her eyes widened and she watched as he backed up farther, mumbling about how he was sorry, and when he looked back up at her she saw some tears running down his face and she gasped, "Stiles!"

"You… you have to get out of here…" He said, clutching onto his head as he pointed to the panel on the elevator by the door where the button had been flipped to stop them in between floors.

Without giving it a second thought, she lunged for the panel, wanting to star the elevator and get away the nogitsune, but before she could to the panel he grabbed her and slammed her against the wall as he laughed and said, "You really fell for that?"

Tears started to run down her own cheeks, she kept trying to hold onto the hope that they were going to find some way to save Stiles, but the longer she was around the nogitsune the less plausible that idea seemed. When she looked into his eyes she didn't see any traces of her friend left.

"You…" He said waving a finger in front of her face, "Have really got to stop trusting a fox, because they'll get you… they'll trick you every single time."

Reaching into her pocket she tried to pull the taser out but he quickly realized what she was doing, and caught her wrist as he slammed her hand against the wall until she made a pained noise and lost her grip on it.

"All it took was a few tears and you were so willingly to believe that Stiles was back…"

Her watery eyes searched his face as she whispered, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because, Avery…" He said pinning her against the wall again, where she squirmed and turned her head to the side. She could feel his lips brushing against the side of her face as he said, "I want to see the agony in your eyes when one of your friends, someone you love… hurts you."

Her breathing came out in fits and gasps as she tried desperately to breakaway but he kept her pinned.

"Look at me!" She cringed from his mouth being so close to her ear, but she kept her eyes pinned shut hoping by some miracle the torment would stop, but it wasn't over.

Roughly grabbing her hair he turned her face until she was facing him as he growled, "Open your eyes…"

Fearfully her eyes slowly opened and met with his as he grabbed onto both sides of her head and before she could react his forehead was smashed back against hers, his eyes locked on hers as he fed off the constant pain and chaos in her head.

He shaky, but determined hands grabbed onto his arms and tried to push him back, but she couldn't. All of the agonizing, traumatic memories throughout her life were brought to the front of her mind, and just like in the basement at Eichen she was forced to relive everything she'd kept buried down.

His mouth hung open and his eyes fluttered as they rolled back slightly, he gripped onto her head tighter, making sure there was no way she could squeeze out of his grip. Until he'd finally taken in enough for the moment.

Somehow she managed to find her way across the elevator and flipped the switch to make it run again.

Dropping to the floor she continued to scream as she desperately clutched onto the sides of her head as an intense pain still radiated over her entire body, the agony was unrelenting and she sank farther down until she was curled up in a fetal position on the floor.

**~()~**

"Avery!" Teagan shouted as she pushed back Derek and Chris Argent to get into the now open elevator.

She rushed to her friend's side with Derek right behind as she dropped the floor and gently rubbed her arm and said, "Avery… hey, you're okay! It's okay."

Slowly the blonde moved her arms from in front of her face as she looked around to see Derek and Teagan staring back at her.

They both helped her sit up, and Derek asked, "What happened?"

Frantically shaking her head back and forth Avery gasped for air as she looked around and said, "Stiles… he…"

"He what?" Derek asked, as he pulled her up to her feet.

"I –I… I was here with him alone…" She stammered, her teary gaze finally finding Teagan as she asked, "Where were you?"

Teagan's big brown eyes were wider than normal as she looked from Avery, then to the harsh gaze Derek was giving her as she apologized, "I'm so sorry, I should have been here…"

She crossed her arms over her stomach; feeling sick. Things were getting worse by the day, she already knew that but now she was really wondering how long she'd be able to continue on around her friends like that. Her mom had made her leave Avery on her own and even though she was really shaken up –the outcome could have been a lot worse.

"He… he just came out of the shadows, I didn't even know he was in here." She continued seeming to not hear her best friend's apology.

"Where's the sheriff?" Chris Argent asked, realizing their group was one member short.

"He took off up the stairs when we were trying to get Teagan to tell us what happened." Allison explained as she and her dad both stepped into the elevator.

Avery's gaze snapped to Allison as she said, "We need to get up there, now!"

Allison quickly hit the button for the top floor as Chris asked, "What happened?"

Her light brown eyes scanned her group of friends for a moment before she finally said, "It's a trickster… it looks and talks like Stiles, it can even cry like him… but it's all a trick."

Everyone exchanged slightly confused looks and the weight of her words made it feel like it was hours before they finally reached the floor.

As they reached the open loft door they could hear the sheriff say, "You're not my son."

Allison and her father walked in first, descending the cement stairs with Derek, Teagan and Avery behind them. Derek kept looked over at her, he didn't know what she'd been through in that elevator, but he could feel the pain buzzing in the air around her.

Teagan looked back over to her best friend, feeling guiltier by the second that she hadn't been there when she was needed, that she'd been too drawn into what her mother was saying to be able to realize her friend had walked away and right into danger.

Her gaze was quickly turned back to Stiles as Allison tried to shoot him with a taser, but he grabbed the electrical wires without it affecting him until he'd managed to pull the entire thing from Allison's hands, who stuttered out, "Stiles?"

"No… that's not Stiles." Avery said as she walked down the steps with Teagan right at her side, both girls ready for a fight or whatever was in store for them.

Hearing a growl they looked over their shoulders to see Derek's eyes glowing blue as he charged forward at the nogitsune, expecting to be able to take him down and subdue him. But everyone was caught off guard when Stiles easily overpowered him, knocked his head against a desk and then flipped his body through the air where he landed against a wall then fell to the floor with a groan of pain.

Before Stiles had even turned around, Chris was pointing a gun at him. As the sheriff pleaded, "Argent, listen to me. Don't do this."

Avery crossed the room to check on Derek and help him to his feet and Allison took a few side steps until she was at Teagan's side. None of them sure what was going to happen next.

"Why not?" Chris asked, "I've done it before. Werewolves, berserkers… I can easily add a nogitsune to the list."

Seeing him speaking with gritted teeth and almost seeming to be psyching himself up for something, the sheriff pulled his own gun and pointed it at Chris as he asserted, "You're not going to shoot my son."

"You said it yourself, sheriff. That is not your son." He argued back.

Allison and Teagan exchanged looks and Avery took a step closer to Stiles watching as he looked between the hunter and the sheriff with an amused expression she cocked her head to the side as she continued to watch him.

"Wait…" She breathed, but no one listened. As Chris held his stance, gun at the ready to take out Stiles and the sheriff kept his aim steady on the hunter.

"Dad, he's going to shoot me." Stiles said, his voice cracking as he swallowed, "He's going to kill me, dad."

"Don't listen to him." Chris loudly said, but the sheriff yelled, "Put it down!"

Looking to Allison's father, Stiles said, "Do it. Pull the trigger, shoot me."

"Put the gun down!" The sheriff ordered again.

"Shoot me!" Stiles shouted louder than before, but Avery yelled louder than him as she pointed a finger and screamed, "That… thing is not Stiles, and you're doing exactly what he wants!"

"Dad!" Allison yelled trying to get him to put his gun away.

"Avery's right!" Teagan yelled, "A nogitsune feeds off strife… and that is exactly what is happening! This is what he wants!"

"Not exactly." Stiles said with a twisted smile, "I was hoping Scott would be here too, I'm glad you all have your guns out… but you're not here to kill me."

He turned around, backing away from the 4 oni who appeared from the shadows across the room from them, he continued to walk backwards through the group as he said, "You're all here to protect me."

Teagan pulled the daggers from the interior pockets of her jacket and started forwards but Avery yelled, "T, behind you!"

Spinning around she saw Stiles disappear out the door as 2 more oni appeared blocking the doorway.

"I don't know how useful our knifes are going to be…" Allison admitted, joining her friend with her own daggers drawn.

Teagan took a deep breath and adjusted her grip on the knife, as she glanced over her shoulder to see Derek and Avery fighting side by side against 2 of the other oni, while Chris and the sheriff fired round after round but nothing seemed to be stopping them.

The group fought tirelessly against the shadowed, masked beings until they just disappeared; vanished right in front of everyone's eyes.

Teagan slid her daggers back into her pockets and looked over at Allison who dropped her knifes to the floor and bent over trying to catch her breath, as the sheriff still looked around for any trace of the oni.

Avery was knelt down on the floor next to Derek looking at a large, deep gash across his shoulder.

"Why aren't you healing?" She questioned, as she moved the shredded fabric of his shirt.

"I don't know, I'm guessing the blades have their own sort of power on their own, or something. I'll heal though." He assured her, seeing the concerned look on her face.

"Do you think they're coming back?" Teagan asked the group, as she saw Avery helping Derek to his feet.

"I don't know." Chris responded, keeping his gun in hand as he looked around.

Hearing foot stops, but the hunter and the sheriff raised their guns, but it was just Scott and Kira coming to help with the fight.

"What happened?" Scott asked looking around the room with Kira at his side.

"They disappeared… they literally just vanished." Allison said as she stood up all the way.

Looking around the room with a scared and saddened look the sheriff continued, "And so did Stiles…"

**~()~**

After leaving the loft, Avery dropped Teagan off at her car, then the two girls went there separate ways, both feeling like a failure. Their plan to help Stiles failed, he was just using them to protect himself from the oni, and now he was gone again.

Teagan parked the car in the driveway, then laid her hands on top of the steering wheel. She rested her head against her hands with a sigh, as she tried to ignore her mother's voice.

She heard it earlier at the loft, circling around her, weighing her down and distracting her. Avery wouldn't tell her exactly what happened in the elevator, but she could tell it was something horrible, making her feel guilty for not being there.

Her mother wanted her to hurt her loved ones, and without meaning to, that is exactly what she did. By not being there for Avery the way she was supposed to be, something bad happened, and she got hurt.

"Shut up." Teagan mumbled, as her mother began to taunt her. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! Why won't you just shut up!" Teagan called out, as she slammed her hand against the steering wheel.

"You know how to shut up me, Sweet girl." Lisa's voice said back. "Once you do exactly what I say, get rid of the poison in your life, I will go away."

"No." Teagan said, as she shook her head. "There has to be another way to stop you. There has to be a way to shut you up for good."

"Tuer ou être tué, Teagan." Lisa said, then added,"That's the only way." As Teagan shook her head, she chuckled, then said,"Soon you won't have a choice. You'll see."

Teagan closed her eyes, taking a couple of deep breaths, as she worked to block out her voice. It didn't work for very long, but it at least gave her a short break before she began to yell at her again.

She blew out a breath, as she opened her eyes, then opened the door and stepped out into the cool night. She made her way toward the front door, planning to take a shower and change before heading back to Isaac. She just needed a little time to get her head on straight so she could be there for him, be the strength that he needed to get better.

She walked into the empty house, softly smiling when Aspen ran over to her. She gave him a few pets on top of his head, then began to lead him toward the sliding door in the kitchen.

"Okay, you can go out for a little bit while I shower and change, then I need to get back to the hospital." She said out to the dog, as she opened the door for him to run out in to the fenced in back yard.

She pulled the daggers from her jacket pocket then began to head for the stairs, planning to put the weapons up in her room. She opened her bedroom door, then jumped in surprised when she saw someone sitting on her bed in the dark.

"Who's there?" Teagan snapped, as she lifted one of the daggers above her head.

"God, my girl is such a badass." Isaac said with a chuckle, as he lifted his head to look at her.

"Isaac?" Teagan questioned, as she snapped the light on. "What are you-How did you get here?"

"Your dad let me in on his way to work." Isaac answered.

"No, I mean, I thought- You were supposed to be in the hospital at least for a few more days. That's what the doctor said." Teagan pointed out. She sat the daggers on her dresser, then crossed the room to sit down on the bed beside him.

"I know, but I'm better. I'm all healed." Isaac said, as he turned to face her.

"All healed? Like-Like completely healed?" Teagan questioned, wanting to make sure. She laid her hands on either side of his face, as she softly smiled at him. "Are you sure you're okay?" She whispered, as tears filled her eyes. "Are you really okay, cause if not we-"

Isaac leaned forward pressing his lips against hers, stopping her mid-sentence. He rested his hand on the back of her head, keeping his lips against her for a sweet kiss. He nibbled on her bottom lip, before whispering out,"I'm good. I'm okay." He pulled back a moment to look at her, then lowered his head, to kiss the inside of her wrist, as he added,"I'm better than okay."

She softly caressed his cheek, as she smiled at him. She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his, as she blew out a breath. "Having you here; out of the hospital and completely healed is a dream come true." She sniffed and reached up to wipe a tear away, as she added,"I hated seeing you in pain, even after you woke up, I could tell you were still in pain, still healing, and I hated I couldn't help you."

"You did help me, more than you know." Isaac stated, then added,"You still save me, Teagan. You always save me."

"I love you. Thank you for coming back to me." Teagan whispered, as she laid a hand on the back of his neck, running her fingers through his curls.

"I'll always come back to you, babe." Isaac whispered back. He softly kissed her lips, before mumbling against her lips,"I love you so much, Teagan."

Teagan grinned against his lips, then stood up from the bed to stand in front of him. He glanced up, watching her slip her jacket off, dropping it to the floor. Wanting to be as close to him as possible, she made a step toward the bed, planning to climb on to his lap, but he placed his hands on her hips stopping her.

She looked at her with a confused look, until he moved his hands to the buttons on her shirt, causing her to softly smile. Like earlier at the hospital, he began to slowly unbutton them, watching her the whole time.

Once the shirt was completely unbuttoned, he watched as she took it off, dropping it on the floor with her jacket. He grinned up at her, then leaned forward pressing his lips against her bare stomach, leaving light kisses across. He lightly bit the skin near her belly button, causing her to moan, as she ran her fingers through his hair.

He ran his hands over her bare skin; lower back, stomach and sides, what ever skin was exposed. It had been awhile since he got to touch her like this, and he wanted to enjoy the moment. He moved his hand to the front of her jeans to unbutton them and pull them down, leaving her in her underwear and bra.

"Come here." He whispered, as he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her toward him, now wanting her to straddle him.

As soon as she was in place, he pressed his lips against her for a heated kiss. She reached down, grabbing the bottom of his shirt, then pulled back long enough to pull it over his head, before the two began to kiss again.

He kissed across her jaw and down the side of her neck, as he ran a hand up her back to unhook her bra. He pushed the straps aside, his fingertips lightly grazing her skin and causing goosebumps.

Teagan pulled the bra completely off and dropped it on to the bed, then raised her eyes to look at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her bare chest against his, needing to feel that closeness. She kept one arm around his neck, then laid a hand on the side of his face, just needing to touch him as tears filled her eyes.

"Hey, look at me. Keep your eyes on me, okay?" Isaac said, as he lightly grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. "I know what you're thinking, but I'm okay." He knew her mind was thinking of him getting hurt in the parking lot, thinking about how close she came to losing him. "I'm here, babe. I'm not going anywhere. Stay here with me, okay?" He softly said, before he leaned forward to press his lips against hers.

He felt her kissing back causing him to let out a content sigh. This was the moment he had been waiting for, the whole time he was laid in that hospital bed, this is the moment he thought about it; just being with her and showing her how much he loved her, which was exactly what he spent the next couple of hours doing.

He paid attention to every single area on her body, nothing was left out, as he did everything he had imagined doing to her while he was stuck in that hospital bed, then he laid back on the bed, flat on his back, as she did the same to him.

Once they were done, they were laid out in her bed, a sheet laid across them. She was laid on his chest, her leg thrown over his, a smile on her face as she lightly ran her finger tips across his bare chest.

Isaac grinned when he heard her sigh happily; that little noise, that was the one he had been waiting to hear. The one that told him she was happy and content. That is all he wanted, to make her happy, especially lately with everything spiraling out of control for her. He wanted to keep her present, keep giving her reasons to fight and stay with him.

He ran his fingers through her hair, then grabbed her hand with his other hand, bringing it up to his lips and kissing the back of it. He laid their joined hands back on his chest, then glanced down, looking at her smaller hand beneath his.

He lightly ran his finger over one of her fingers, the one beside her pinky, the finger that a certain ring was usually placed on. As that thought hit his mind, he smiled, as he said,"You know what I can't wait for?"

"Hmm?" Teagan asked back, as she raised her head to look at him.

"I can't wait to put a ring on this finger." Isaac said. He ran his finger against hers again, as he continued,"This one right here. I can't wait to put one on it and truly make you mine."

"You don't have to." Teagan said.

"Are you saying you don't want to marry me one day?" Isaac asked with a worried look. He knew she loved him, he knew she wanted to spend forever with him and he thought she wanted to marry him some day, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe they weren't on the same page after all.

"What? No! Of course I do." Teagan said, seeing the look on his face. She leaned forward, giving him a sweet kiss, easing his mind. She pulled back to look at him, as she added,"I just mean we don't need a ring or a piece of paper to show that I am yours. I'm already yours and have been yours for a while now." She kissed him again, before whispering,"And I'll always be yours."

Isaac smiled against her lips before pressing his lips against her for another gentle kiss. "I'm happy with that." He stated, as he smiled again.

The two kissed a little longer, then she lowered her head to press her lips against his chest, giving him a few, quick kisses, before laying her head on his chest again, listening to his heart beat. The two laid in a comfortable silence until she spoke up.

"You know what I can't wait for?"

"What?" Isaac asked, as he ran his fingers through her hair again.

"I can't wait to become a Lahey." Teagan answered with a smile. "I think Teagan Lahey has a nice ring to it."

"Wait, seriously?" Isaac asked, as he looked down at her.

"Yeah..." Teagan began to say. She lifted her head to look at him, as she joked,"Wait, are you not wanting to marry me now?"

"No I just, I didn't think you would want to take my name." Isaac said.

"Why wouldn't I?" Teagan questioned.

"Cause it's-it's not a good name. Who would want to be a Lahey?" He asked back.

"I would." Teagan stated. She placed a hand on the side of his face, as she smiled, and said,"It's your name. I don't see it as a bad name." She paused for a moment, sitting up more to get closer to him, as she continued,"I can't even imagine how your home life was, and I can understand your last name causing you pain, but we can turn it into something positive. Instead of the bad when you hear it, you can think of your mom and Camden, the good times."

"Do you know what I think of when I hear your last name?" She questioned. When he shook his head, she continued,"When I hear your name, all I think of is you. The boy I love, the boy who changed my whole life with one kiss and made it better. I think about the future, our future, and how I can't wait to share your name. That's what I think when I hear Lahey. That's what it means to me."

"I swear you are too good for me. I don't know how I got so lucky to finally get you, but I'm so grateful it happened." Isaac said, as he cupped her cheek. "I honestly don't know where I would be right now if it wasn't for you. This is what I mean when I said you saved me, cause Teagan I seriously don't know if I would still be here if it wasn't for you." He thought for a moment about the time he almost left town with Boyd and Erica. Like them; he could have been caught by the alpha pack, or if he was lucky enough to get away and make it to another town, who knows what would have happened.

Without his friends; his pack and his girl, he didn't think he would have made it alone. All he did know was, he would never walk away; not from her, not from this life. This was the life he always dreamed about. This was all he wanted.

"You make me happy, Teagan. You give me something to fight for, you keep me grounded. Without you, I would be lost." He added, as he softly stroked her cheek.

"The calm in the middle of a storm." Teagan softly said, as she smiled at him.

Isaac smiled back as he nodded his head, then said,"You're my calm in the middle of a storm, you're my safety bubble, you're my everything."

Teagan continued to smiled as she leaned forward to press her lips against his. She knew what he meant cause she felt the same way about him. Whenever he was by her side she felt her strongest, and if she did feel like giving up, he gave her the reasons to keep fighting.

"It's you and me." Isaac whispered against her lips.

Teagan smiled at the words, those four words could get her through anything. They made her feel like she could do anything, maybe even save herself from the voice in her head; the voice that was screaming at her now.

She laid her head on his chest, and closed her eyes with a sigh. She felt him playing with her hair, then as if knowing she needed to hear it, he said again,"It's you and me, babe. Always."

"Always." Teagan whispered back with a smile on her face.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN – Thank you for reading! We hope you all liked the chapter, don't forget to leave us a review. ^_^**


	31. Don't Chase Me, Don't Leave

**Chapter 31 - Don't Chase Me, Don't Leave Me**

* * *

><p>"I want to go back inside…" Avery complained as she stumbled a little from being pulled along by the guy who'd led her out of a side exit of the bar to the alley.<p>

Pushing her against the building he didn't respond as he roughly pushed his mouth against hers with such force she could feel her bottom lip starting to swell against her teeth.

Turning her face and breaking the kiss she saw a few guys standing with beers in their hands outside of the bar watching the scene as they nudged each other and a few of them whistled and yelled something she couldn't understand as the guy moved his mouth to her neck, she could feel his hands starting to slide up her thighs, raising the bottom of her dress with them.

"Uh-uh." She breathed grabbing his hands and stopping him as she said, "I'm not near drunk enough for this."

"Come on, I see you here all the time… and we both know you're not just here to drink." He breathed out, but she couldn't understand what he was saying, his voice sounded robotic and her ears felt like they were full of water, muffling every single sound.

"What…" She gasped, confused trying to understand him, but before she could even get her question out, his mouth was back on hers.

With a groan she pushed him back and wiped her mouth as her heart started to race, from fear when she still couldn't focus on a single sound. Pinning her eyes shut she let out a frustrated yell, not sure what was happening to her. Sure, she'd been drinking but not enough for this to be happening.

As her eyes slowly fluttered open and she gasped as she watched the face of the man who'd pulled her outside twist into a terrifying sight, the only word she could think to describe it was that his features shifted into something demonic.

Mumbling under her breath about how this wasn't real she pushed him away again and started for the front of the alley, continuously slapping hands away from the guy who kept following her and trying to stop her from leaving.

She'd expected everything to go back to normal once she was out of the alley, but as she neared the street she saw all of the other people who'd came outside looked just as demonic as the one who was currently holding onto her arm, and not letting her walk any further.

Gasping for air she flipped her head back and forth trying to keep an eye on her surroundings but it was like neither her eyes nor ears could focus and process anything at all.

"Let go of me!" She shrieked, as she tried to pull away from the man's rough, tight hold on her, but he was unrelenting as his hands and arms tangled around her, trying to pull her back away from the street.

In her state of panic she realized the other people who'd been outside started to file back into the building, and she didn't understand what was happening, she couldn't even tell it was someone's hands and arms on her anymore, all she could focus on was the feeling that something was holding her back and the overwhelming darkness around her, seeming to swallow her whole.

Finally breaking free, she started to run as she looked over her shoulder to see if anyone or anything was following her she ran right into someone, who gently grabbed onto her to keep her from falling down.

Tears stung her eyes as she slowly looked up, expecting to see some other twisted face or maybe even nothing but pure darkness, but instead her gaze locked with a pair of green eyes and finally her state of panic broke.

Still a little dazed she looked over to the police car with it's lights going and realized that's why everyone else had gone inside.

As Parrish gently pushed her back behind him and start to angrily say something to the guy who from what he'd seen, had been trying to force Avery into something and that's why she was screaming and trying to get away from him, her ears slowly began to bring sound back into focus.

She could hear the guy claiming he was just trying to keep her from running out into traffic and claimed to have no idea what had set her off.

Looking back over to where a few people were starting to come back out of the bars watching the scene with prying eyes, Avery lowered her head in embarrassment.

"He's right, he didn't do anything." She finally spoke up.

"That's not how I saw it." The deputy argued looking to where Avery was now standing beside him.

"I just saw something that freaked me out is all." She down played the situation and tried to block the terrifying hallucination she'd had from her mind.

With a heavy sigh Parrish gave her a look showing he didn't believe her but there was really nothing he could do if she refused to speak out against him.

Turning away from them Avery wrapped her arms around herself as she stared at her reflection in the window of the police car, she had to immediately pin her eyes shut when the reflection staring back at her wasn't her own –it was her mother.

Shaking her head it took every ounce of strength she had to not start crying as all of her worst fears were seeming to come to life. What if she was turning into her mom? Getting swallowed up in the darkness… maybe she was just born bad, any of it seemed possible now.

"Avery…"

She gasped and jumped moving away from the hands that had gently landed on her upper arms.

"I'm sorry." Parrish quickly apologized as he took a step back away from her.

"It's okay." She said flashing him a smile as she excused her jumpiness, "You just startled me."

With an expression to show he didn't believe a word coming out of her mouth that night he said, "Come on." As he opened up the passenger door to his car.

She'd called for a car to get her to the bar that night, because she'd went fully intending to get drunk and forget who and what she was, but nothing had gone according to plan, so she didn't protest as she kept her head down and got into the car, staring down to her lap as he shut the door behind her.

Leaning forward she rested her head in her hands and listened to the sound of him moving something around in the trunk and closing it.

As he got into the driver's seat he softly said, "Here."

Rubbing her face before moving her hands so she could see, she saw he was holding out a light green t-shirt.

Confused she looked down to see that in her struggle to get away, one of the straps on her dress had gotten broken, and the top of the fabric on that side was hanging down exposing that side of her black strapless bra.

No wonder he didn't believe the story that the guy was simply trying to keep her out of the street, which in all honesty she didn't remember what was happening.

Looking down to the light color fabric she asked, "I don't suppose you have anything in black… maybe even gray?"

Sighing he admitted, "All I have are the clothes that I was going to change back into when I got off work."

Taking the shirt she hid the smile on her lips as she realized it smelled like him, "Change back into?"

He nodded in response.

"So you're giving me your dirty clothes to wear?" She asked as she pulled it on over her head, feeling a bit better than she had moments before, when his comforting scent from the shirt filled her nose.

"It's not that dirty." He defended as he watched her for a few moments before starting the car and driving off.

Closing her eyes she snuggled back into the seat, expecting a quiet drive to her house, after all normally she was the one who had to lead their conversations but she didn't get her wish as he looked over at her and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She sighed, keeping her eyes closed.

"What I saw back there didn't look fine to me." He admitted, as he looked over at her.

"If had known this was going to be an interrogation I would have just called for a car." She replied, as she glanced over at him.

"I'm not trying to interrogate you." He assured her then pointed out, "I'm just trying to understand…"

"Well you're not going to." She snapped, then felt bad as she swallowed hard and mumbled, "I'm sorry… but I've had the worst day ever."

She pinned her eyes shut as she thought back to the events earlier in the night of trying to save Stiles from the Oni, even though they'd managed to fight them off –Derek had gotten injured and they were no closer to saving Stiles. Or Teagan for that matter, everything was falling apart.

Eyeing her out of the corner of his eye he reasoned, "So tell me about it."

"My day?" She asked with a dry laugh.

He nodded and glanced back over at her as she shook her head back and forth.

"I can't." She answered honestly. If she'd tried to tell him that her and her werewolf friends were trying to save the sheriff's possessed son, he'd lock the doors and drive her straight to Eichen.

"Can't… or you're just not going to?" He pushed as he pulled to a stop at a red light.

Swallowing hard she thought of being back in Eichen House with the nogitsune feeding off of her pain, it was the most painful thing she'd ever been through and even though she knew it wasn't really Stiles –that was face she associated with the memory.

"I can't…" She admitted, her voice a little hoarse as she shook her head, trying to rid the nightmares from her mind, but it didn't work.

When she heard him take a breath and start to say something she cut him off with the most honest thing she'd said all night, "Please, don't ask me anymore questions… I really don't like lying to you."

The car fell silent and she leaned back into the seat again wrapping her arms around herself, breathing deeply as the subtle notes of his cologne started to ease her nerves a little and for the first time since going into Eichen House, she started to feel a sense of safety, but just as quickly as that feeling started to sink in –so did sadness.

Looking over at him she realized in just a few minutes they'd be at her house, and he'd leave –taking her feeling of security with him and she'd be left alone, yet again.

Tears stung her eyes and she wasn't sure if it was from all the pressure she'd been under lately, or her haunting nightmares, maybe her fear of losing Stiles and not being able to save Teagan. But for whatever reason a few tears rolled down her cheeks and she quickly turned her head away from him as she focused on controlling her breathing. But with every new tear that made it's way down her face, she grew angrier at herself for crying.

"Hey…" He breathed as they neared her street, "You're okay, you're safe." He said, his voice calm and soothing. Only he thought she was crying from what he'd witnessed outside of the bar, he had no idea the amount of stress she was under.

"I know." She breathed pinning her eyes shut and physically turning away from him in her seat, she swatted more tears away as he pulled onto her road and she could already feel the cold and lonely feeling creeping up, the same feeling she got every time they parted ways.

As the car started to slow down, her heart picked up speed almost feeling frantic at the thought of having to leave the safe feeling of the car. Thoughts started rushing through her head and she opened her mouth stuttering out inaudible sounds.

She wanted to tell him that the only time she felt safe was when he was around, and ask him to turn the car around, even if they just drove all night she didn't care. She just honestly didn't think she could handle another night on her own, not with the nightmares and the terror she'd been experiencing, the constant crushing weight of everything crumbling around her was beginning to be more than she could take.

With the way he always made her feel so safe and warm, a part of her felt like maybe he could even chase away the nightmares if she spent enough time around him. Or at the very least another few minutes, just a small break from everything where she could finally breathe. But her thoughts we're interrupted when he asked, "What?" with a confused expression as her stumbling over syllables in an attempt to form words.

More tears burnt her eyes as she shrugged, "Nothing…" and started to open her door to get out.

"Avery?" He questioned, feeling like she was on the verge of saying something, either telling him what was going on or asking for help. But just as the quickly as he thought he saw the small breakthrough she shut his hopes down as she mumbled out, "Thanks for getting me home."

He sighed and watched as she shut the door and started to make her way across the sidewalk towards her driveway. His mind drifted back to the sheriff's talk with him, reminding him of her age –he knew the smart thing to do would be to just make sure she got in the house safe and drive off.

But he couldn't stand how it made him feel when she shut down and wouldn't talk to him, so many times he'd felt like they were on the verge of her being honest but then she close down, put up this emotionless exterior and then it seemed like nothing could break through to her.

And just like that, reason went out the window and the sheriff's warning was the last thing on his mind. Avery was hurting; the cause of her pain, he wasn't aware of. But it was clear that her eyes held more secrets and had seen far more than anyone her age should have to deal with.

Hearing footsteps she turned around half way up the driveway and asked, "What are you doing…"

Walking up to her he thought he wasn't too sure what he was doing, just a few seconds ago he'd been convincing himself to stay in the car but now he was standing in front of her.

"I just…" He sighed, letting out a breath as he shook his head back and forth, "It just doesn't feel right… what I saw outside of the bar back there, and the way you're acting…"

"The way I'm acting… what?" She asked shaking her head back and forth as she stared at him in the illumination of the security light above the garage door.

"It just…" He started to say but she shook her head back and forth as she waved her hand and silenced him.

"It what, worries you?" she asked, rolling her eyes when he nodded, "I'm so sick of hearing that from you. I'm sick of a lot of things from you actually." She admitted crossing her arms over her chest and feeling suddenly angered by his presence, or covering her other emotions with anger; she wasn't sure which one.

"What?" He asked surprised, but a smile toyed at the corner of his lips at the expression on her face.

"You just… you show up and you save the day but then…" Her voice trailed off and she whispered quietly with a defeated shrug, "You leave me."

He frowned at her words and started to say something but she turned and headed for her door, where he caught her again and said, "Just because we can't… go there, it doesn't mean that you can't talk to me."

"I don't want to talk." She stated with raised eyebrows.

"Something is bothering you… I can see that, and I hate it." He admitted licking his lips as he continued, "But you can talk to me… maybe I can even help you."

She gave a weak smile at the offer and said, "I can't talk about it anymore than you'd be able to help."

His gaze fell to the ground and he didn't notice she'd walked closer until he looked up and she was just inches in front of him.

"You could come in…" She said quietly nodding to the door.

"I really can't." He declined as his gaze lingered on the door, before he looked back at her.

"But you want to?" She asked her voice barely over a whisper as she stared at him with a look of longing in her eyes, she needed him around her.

He opened his mouth to remind her that it wouldn't matter either way, whether he wanted too or didn't want to; the fact was for so many reasons –he couldn't. But his breath caught in his throat as she trailed her fingers down his arm and their eyes locked.

Her heart started to race in her chest as their faces moved closer, until their faces were only mere inches apart. His eyes were on her lips, and her stomach erupted in flutters at the idea of how his lips would feel on hers.

But he backed up as he said, "Avery…we can't…"

She saw the look in eyes and heard the regret in his tone, but it still stung her worse she'd expected.

Seeing her hurt expression he breathed, then admitted, "I'm an adult and you're… you're 16, Avery. We just can't do this… it's wrong."

"Says who?" she breathed as she rubbed her forehead and wished he'd have never followed her to the door because now it was going to hurt even more when he left.

"The law… for one." He pointed out, "I could get into some serious trouble…"

"Then maybe you should have thought about that before you got out of your car and chased me down." She said as she took out her keys and fumbled with the locks on the door.

She knew she really had no right to be angry with him, but it was much easier to show anger than it was to admit that she was starting to feel something and that it almost caused her physical pain when he'd leave her.

"I'm not trying to upset you." He quickly said as she opened the door and walked into the house.

"Well, Deputy Parrish…" She said with narrowed eyes as she held onto the door and said, "Next time… try harder."

With those words she slammed the door in his face and leaned against it, as she stared up to the ceiling feeling bad for snapping at him.

"Avery."

With a confused expression she slowly turned and looked at the door wondering why he was still outside, anyone else would have taken off when she got mad at them.

Slowly she leaned forward looking through the peephole to see him still standing outside of the door with his arm raised like he was trying to decide if he wanted to knock or not.

"Are you there, I kind of feel like you're just inside of the door." He admitted as he dropped his arm and looked around.

Avery raised an eyebrow, but held perfectly still as to not give away her location and curious to see why he was still there.

"Well…" He breathed with a shrug, not sure if he was talking to do the door or if she was really listening, "For what it's worth… I am sorry."

She continued to watch as he slowly turned and headed down the walkway, her hand went to the doorknob, but then she stopped, feeling like nothing else could be said anyways.

Locking the door she slowly headed up the stairs to her room, pausing on the top stair to raise his shirt to her nose and breathing in another deep breath of his scent.

**~()~**

The next morning, Teagan softly sighed as she began to wake up. Her body was a little sore after the night she spent with Isaac, but she wasn't complaining. With a smile on her face, she rolled over, reaching out trying to find him.

When she felt the cold, empty bed where he had laid, she opened her eyes and glanced around the empty room. She lowered her eyebrows in confusion, as she sat up and wondered where he was.

For a minute, she worried something was wrong. What if he wasn't completely healed and ready to leave the hospital? What if he started feeling bad and left without waking her?

She snapped her head to the side when she heard the bathroom door open and saw him walk out of the room; showered, dressed and ready to go. She breathed a sigh of relief at seeing that he was okay.

"Babe, come back to bed." Teagan sleepily said, before falling back against the mattress with a tired groan. She expected to hear him laugh before jumping back into bed with her, but when she didn't hear anything from him, she sat back up, seeing him standing by her dresser.

"What are you doing out of bed already? Come back over here." She said, as she patted her mattress.

When she saw him staring at something on top the dresser, she stood up from the bed, pulling the shirt she had on down, it falling around her knees. It was his shirt that she stole to sleep in.

Teagan softly said his name, then walked up behind him, placing a hand on his back, as she said his name again. She softly gasped when he finally turned his head to look at her, but it was almost if he was in a daze. It's a look she had seen on her own face too many times lately.

Fearing this was just another nightmare, she closed her eyes, squeezing them tight, then opened them to look at him again. She breathed out a sigh when she saw he was looking more like himself, making her think before was just a trick from her mother.

"What are you doing?" She questioned, as she ran her hand up and down his back.

"Just looking at these." Isaac answered, as he turned his head back to look at the daggers laying on top of her dresser. She meant to put them up the night before but got distracted. "I was just thinking of how much damage they could do." He added.

"Isaac, I'm sorry." Teagan softly said, as she reached out to grab them to put them up. She thought he was thinking about the times she pulled a dagger on him, or maybe he was worried she would pull another one on him now and hurt him. She didn't want him to think that though. She didn't want him to fear her, even if he did have a reason to, but she was trying so hard to ignore her mother's shouts and not hurt him now.

"No, it's okay." Isaac said, as he grabbed her wrist to stop her. "You shouldn't hide them, you should keep them out. Actually you should have them on you at all times. You have to protect yourself, Teagan."

"I do, but there are other ways to protect myself than with weapons. Non-lethal ways, that's what Allison has been training us to do." Teagan pointed out. She lightly grabbed his arm, turning him to face her, as she said,"Babe, what is going on? Are you worried about something?"

"I always worry about you. This world isn't human friendly." He shook his head, as he continued,"You know, I'm starting to think that voice in your head is right after all."

"What?" Teagan breathed out, with a shocked expression on her face.

"Some of us are monsters, some of us can't be forgiving for the things we have done. Some of us don't deserve second chances." Isaac stated, then added,"Like the twins, look at how much hurt they have caused. They have taken a lot from all of us." He laid his hands on either side of her face, as he said,"Your mom would be beside you and not in your head if it wasn't for them and their pack. And my pack? My original pack, they would be here too if it wasn't for them."

"I know they have done a lot of bad, and I'm not trying to excuse that, but they have also done some good lately too." Teagan said, then added,"I'm not saying to forgive them or trust them, cause I still don't fully, but with everything that is going on, we need as many allies as we can get right now."

"Yea-Yeah I guess you're right." Isaac mumbled, as he ran a hand through his hair. He laid a hand on her side, as he nodded his head toward the bed and suggested,"Why don't we just lay back down?"

"I think that is a great idea." Teagan said, as she smiled over at him while he led her over toward the bed. She lowered her eyebrows in concern when she noticed the look on his face, it was the look she noticed earlier when she first woke up and saw him.

She opened her mouth to ask him if he was okay, but before she could say a word, he pulled a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket; it was the pair Avery had given her for her birthday. Before she could do anything, he snapped the cuffs on her wrist then cuffed her to the bed frame.

"Isaac!" Teagan yelled out in surprise. She pulled on the cuffs, as she called out, "What are you-what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry Teagan, but she's right. You have to kill or be killed." Isaac stated, as he grabbed her car keys, then turned and walked out of the bedroom.

Teagan's mouth dropped open in shock from his words. "Wh-what?" She breathed out, trying to wrap her mind around what just happened. She replayed the words he said in her head, trying to ignore her mother's words as she repeated her phrase of 'Tuer ou être tué' over and over again.

Realizing what he was going to do, she jerked on the cuffs as she yelled out,"No, NO! Isaac! Isaac, come back! Don't do this."

She screamed out in frustration when she heard the front door slam shut downstairs. She turned to face the bed frame, then pulled as hard as she could on the cuffs, trying to break them with no luck. All she did was cause them to cut against her wrist.

She glanced down at the bedroom floor, tears in her eyes, as she realized she wasn't going to be able to break the cuffs off. Meaning she had no way of going after him. Meaning he was on his own as he went after the twins. He was alone and she was completely stuck.

**~()~**

Hearing the doorbell echo throughout the house, Richard got up from his desk and headed down the front hallway towards the door.

Opening it he looked at the officer dressed in his uniform and said, "Hello…"

Parrish looked at him and was silent for a moment, he'd fully expected Avery to open the door, not to be meeting her father.

"Can I help you?" Richard pushed when the deputy didn't respond.

"Sorry, um, is Avery home?" He questioned.

With an exasperated sigh Richard stepped to the side and ushered him in as he shut the door and asked, "What did she do this time?"

Parrish's eyes bugged as he started to stutter out his answer, but Richard cut him off.

"Look, I don't really see a reason to get a lawyer involved here. I can get my checkbook, and we can work something out, right? Does the station still need that computer upgrade?" Richard asked, quickly trying to sweep whatever Avery had done under the rug.

"Oh no, that's not necessary." He finally found his words, then continued to explain, "I was just coming to check on her after what happened last night."

"Last night?" Richard asked with raised eyebrows.

Seeing her dad had no idea what he was talking about he let out a small nervous laugh as he said, "Well, I can see this is all new information to you… so maybe I could just talk to her?"

"She's up in her room." He nodded to the stairs then asked, "Wait, how do you know each other…"

With wide eyes he stuttered out, "No, it's not like that… we're not like that. We're just friends."

When he was met by a raised eyebrow look of expectance similar to that of one Avery often gave him he rubbed a hand through his hair and said, "Uh, sir… I know that sounds strange seeing as how I'm older than her but…"

With a small chuckle at not only seeing the young officer nervous, but also at being called sir, he said, "Your age is the least of my worries right now. She's in her room." Nodding back to his office he said, "I'm in the middle of sending some emails for work."

With a confused and slightly stunned expression he called out, "You said upstairs?"

Spinning around he asked, "You really don't know where her room is?"

Matching the shocked expression he questioned, "Should I?"

Turning back around, Richard rubbed a hand over the back of his head as he questioned, "Do you really not know which room is hers?"

"No…"

"Well…" Richard said with a smile, "I'll take you up there then… plus, now I'm really curious about what happened last night."

With a nervous laugh Parrish followed Avery's dad up the stairs to her closed door.

"Uh…" Richard said looking to Parrish before knocking on the door and saying, "Avery?"

Avery looked up from the book she was trying to read, trying to keep her mind off of things and sighed at her dad bothering her.

Looking to the foot of her bed where her black cat was yawning from being disturbed from her nap, Avery let out a small chuckle and said, "Was the princess disturbed from her royal nap?"

When she didn't respond he knocked louder with an embarrassed look on his face as he yelled, "Avery, I'm serious… are you alone in there?"

Parrish raised his eyebrows and stared at Richard.

"Of course I'm not alone, I have half of the lacrosse team in here…" She said as she jerked her door open, but her voice trailed off as she saw who was standing with her dad.

"That's not funny." Richard sighed as he followed her into her room.

"It wasn't a joke, I stashed them in the closet and under my bed." Avery said with a wink that made him roll his eyes and point to where the deputy was growing more uncomfortable by the second.

Climbing back into her bed she sat with her legs crossed and tried to dismiss her dad, "Goodbye, dad."

"I'm not leaving… I want to know what happened last night." He stated.

Avery held back a laugh as a dozen comebacks that would make him cringe flooded her mind, but the worried look on his face stopped her from saying any of them.

"It's not a big deal…" Avery breathed looking over to where Parrish was standing, looking around her room, wondering what he was doing there, or what he'd told her dad.

"Yeah…" Richard said as he looked over to the officer's name tag and said, "Well that's not what Deputy Parrish told me."

Sighing she said, "Look I was just out having a good time and this guy got a little rough… that's it."

Richard's entire body tensed at her words as he walked over and asked, "Oh my god, are you okay?"

Realizing her dad had tricked her into telling him what happened she sighed, "I'm fine…" Nodding to Parrish she admitted, "He spies on me all the time so he intervened and even brought me home."

"I don't spy on her, I was on patrol." Deputy Parrish quickly cut in.

She lowered her head and smiled at his words, then looked up as her dad sternly said, "We'll talk about this later."

Standing up he paused in front of the deputy as he extended his hand with a nod of approval and said, "Thank you."

Parrish smiled and nodded as he shook his hand.

Seeing her dad walking past the dresser he said, "But you might want to take that with you."

His eyes went to the bottle of alcohol sitting on her dresser in plain sight.

"Right… I must have left this here." Richard took the blame, excusing his daughters behavior as he grabbed the bottle and left, pulling the door shut behind him.

Looking at the closed door with a frown he thought that might have explained a lot of her behavior, with a father so willing to sweep her problems under the rug she'd gotten good at not only hiding things, but thinking that her actions didn't have consequences.

"You know…" Avery said, as she nodded to the dresser, "There's another bottle in my underwear drawer… if you want to go searching for it."

He sighed as he looked at her, now that they were alone the concerned on his face grew.

Patting the bed in front of her she asked, "What are you doing here?"

Walking closer he sat down, but a ways away from where she had pointed to.

"I came to check on you..." He reminded her, as he looked over to where her phone beeped on her desk next to her open laptop.

"I'm fine."

"Are you?"

"Don't I look fine?" She questioned, motioning to the short tight shirt and the sleeping shorts she wore that could have easily passed for underwear.

His gaze traveled down but quickly went back to her face as he said, "Can you please just be serious for a minute with me?"

Her eyes went from his face down to her blanket as she shrugged, "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to be honest… with me, with yourself."

Raising her head she looked at him as she said, "I'm okay, believe it or not I'm fine after last night, that was probably one of the least traumatic events in my life."

"That's what concerns me." He admitted, watching her closely.

He looked down to where her arms were laying in her lap, with her tattooed wrist in clear view, it only took a few moments of focusing to see the raised scar under the corset lace design.

Seeing her quickly move her arms and try to cover the scar he said, "Drinking never solved anyone's problem, not for longer than a night."

Feeling defensive she started to pull at a loose thread from her pillow case and said, "Until you walk a mile in my shoes, don't judge me."

"I'm not judging you." He clarified as he shook his head back and forth, wishing she wouldn't immediately get so defensive.

The room fell silent as he could start to feel her closing down again, shutting him and her problems out, because it was easier to drink and party the pain away than to face herself.

"I'm not judging you." He tried to make her feel better, "Anyone who's been through that kind of… trauma would still be dealing with the affects."

Raising her head she stopped picking at the thread and a hurt expression fell over her soft features, "You read my file…"

"A car-jacking gone wrong… someone tried to kill you."

"Yeah, I remember that. Thanks." She snapped as she got up from her bed and shook her head back and forth, clearly upset with him.

He stared down at the carpet in her room where there were several burn marks from when her curtain had caught on fire months before as he quietly said, "I wasn't trying to upset you."

"You talk about me being honest with you, but you're going behind my back… looking into files that I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to do for personal reasons. It's not fair, when I met you I didn't get some file spilling all your dirty laundry." Her arms fell to her sides as she watched him raise his head and look at her with a defeated expression.

"You don't talk to me… not really, you shut down every time something is brought up that makes you uncomfortable. Which is pretty ironic considering you're always trying to make everyone around you uncomfortable." He confronted, feeling an intense need to not only understand her and what she was going through, but also to help her.

Her jaw tensed in anger at his calling her out on her behavior, something very few people had the nerve to do.

"You want honesty, let's start with you." She said, angrily jutting a finger in his direction.

Standing up he spread his arms to the sides as he said, "I'm an open book."

"Fine." She scoffed, "Then tell me why you went to the trouble of finding out dirt on me."

"I wasn't trying to find dirt on you, I'm trying to understand why you stay so guarded… why you always shut everyone out including me."

Her eyes met his and she coldly said, "Not good enough, being curious about someone and going through sealed records for information are two entirely different things."

"First off, the files weren't sealed. And Secondly, did it ever occur to you that maybe I went to all of this trouble, that I continually try to talk to you when all you do is push me away because I care about you? That I'm trying to help you… keep you from destroying yourself?"

They're eyes locked for a few moments of dead silence before she gave a small, weak shrug and asked, "How did everything in my file not scare you away?"

"Because you're more than just some words on a paper, you're bigger than everything that's happened to you, and like I said… I'm worried about you." He explained with a shrug of his own.

"Worried? I believe you said you cared about me." She pointed out, turning around and walking over to her window, hiding the smile threatening to overpower the frown on her lips.

"Either way, everything that I've read… everything I've seen with you, none of it scared me off." He pointed out, watching her as he spoke.

Turning around her eyes looked even duller than before as she quietly asked, "And what if I told you that what you read on paper… wasn't even half of what is wrong with me?"

"Then I'd say that you're still here, strong and fighting through it every day. But at some point, everyone needs help. And if you can't talk to me about it… there has to be someone else you can. Because Avery, the way you keep everything bottled up, it's going to kill you from the inside out."

Tears stung her eyes in response to his words, but she was determined to not break down. Everything he was saying sounded great, but the darkness inside of her would chase anyone off.

"I've seen it happen before… Some of the strongest people I have ever met, have been the most… haunted. Going through life threatening situations it weighs on you and if you aren't careful it can tear you apart." He continued, trying to get her to understand the seriousness of what was happening.

Everything she'd said about how he didn't even know half of what was going on with her, scared him; not of her but scared for her. The girl he'd first met, the one who surprised him by offering food to a homeless man, and who had started to creep into his every waking thought was slowly slipping away right in front of him and he couldn't help her, not if she wouldn't let him.

Rubbing her forehead she forged a smile as he said, "Thanks for coming to check on me, but I think I really just need some sleep."

He nodded, knowing she was closing down again and wasn't ready to talk about what was troubling her. But he'd seen bits of true emotion show through, for a few short lived, hopeful seconds he even thought she was really going to open up, but he'd take the small progress they'd made as a win – for now at least.

Just as he reached the door of her room he turned around and remembered, "Oh, my shirt."

"Your shirt…" She breathed glancing over to where she'd tucked the light green shirt he'd let her borrow under pillows, relieved to see it was fully hidden from sight.

He nodded and followed her gaze towards the bed trying to see what she was looking at, but she snapped her gaze back to him and shrugged, "I'll have to look for it… it might not even be here, colors that light don't normally last long in my room."

"But it was just last night." He argued, sensing she wasn't be entirely truthful as his eyes scanned her room where all the décor was dark colors, mainly black.

"Mhmm." She hummed nodded but held her ground until he finally accept the answer and headed out into the hallway.

As they headed down the stairs she tried to lighten the subject of their conversation, "You work tonight?"

"Yeah, in a few hours." He answered as they walked to the front door.

With a hopeful expression she leaned forward, resting her arms on his shoulders and raising up on her bare feet as she played with the back of his hair and offered, "If you really want to make me feel better…"

Feeling his body tense up under her touch she smiled and purred, "You could stay with me…"

Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, he put his hands on her sides and for a moment she thought he was going to give in, distract her from her current problems, for a few hours at least. But the way her days we're going, she'd gladly take a night off from being alone with her thoughts.

"Avery…" He said quietly, as his hands slid down her sides some.

"Yeah?" She whispered back, her heart slowly starting to gain speed when their eyes met.

"I can't."

His tone was confident but she was sure she saw a flash of regret in his green eyes as he declined the offer.

"Let me guess… it's a not good idea?" She sighed, rolling her eyes at one of the many excuses he'd use to get out of compromising situations with her, she hated that one just as much as when he brought up her age.

His eyes moved from her eyes down to her lips for a moment before continuing down her body to the floor, as he gained the strength to say, "For several reasons, most importantly… it wouldn't help you."

His eyes moved back up her body, wrapped in the tight clothes she was wearing as he tried to get her to understand where he was coming from, "All these things you're doing to take your mind off of your problems, the drinking and –sex, everything you're doing to try and take the pain away are only going to hurt you worse in the long run."

"Yeah?" She breathed, "Well I've never been a big picture type of girl." She said trying to lean against him, but he kept his hands firmly on her sides and held her in place as he took a step back.

A look of hurt spread over her face and her heart felt like it had sank into her stomach as he physically backed away from her, leaving her feeling unnaturally cold and with a tinge of abandonment.

"Goodbye." His tone was soft and just calm enough to almost put her ease, but it just wasn't enough to make her feel better because she knew he was still leaving.

She nodded but didn't respond as she closed the door behind him and locked it. Letting out a shaky breath she dropped her head forward until it collided with a thud on the hard surface.

"He's right you know."

Turning around she saw her dad standing in the doorway to the front family room, where she could only guess he'd been watching the entire ordeal.

Silently she turned back to the stairs, but paused when her dad asked, "Do you want to talk about it… about anything?"

With a small bitter laugh she said, "Contrary to what I just said to him… I just really need to be alone."

He watched with a frown as his daughter climbed the stairs, before he heard the door shut to her room. As she once again closed herself off from the rest of the world.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you for reading! ^_^ **

**Just 10 more chapters left for this installment of The Blue Moon Series!**


	32. Try, Try Again

**Chapter 32 - Try, Try Again**

* * *

><p>Teagan glanced over on the other side of the bed where a small table was, the one that held the key to the cuffs in it. She groaned out, realizing there was no way she could get to the keys from where she was.<p>

She turned her head back, seeing the other bed side table, and saw her cell phone sitting on top of it. Knowing she needed to do something to get out of the cuffs and save Isaac, she quickly scooped it up and called Avery for help.

"This better be an emergency." Avery stated as soon as she answered the phone. After the night she had, she had hoped to grab some more sleep after Parrish left until the ringing phone woke her up.

"It is. I need you to come uncuff me. Isaac's gone." Teagan said, as she pulled on the hand cuffs again, then cried out in pain when it cut into her wrist again.

"Teagan?" Avery asked confused. She pulled the phone away, looking at the caller id for the first time, realizing it was her best friend calling. A chuckle left her lips, as she placed the phone back against her ear and said, "If Isaac handcuffed you and left, then you two are doing it wrong. No worries, I'll get you a sex book for Christmas, lots of fun games in there or you can just borrow-"

"Avery! This is not a joke!" Teagan snapped. "Something is wrong with Isaac. I don't-I don't know what is going on but he was acting weird and then he cuffed me to the bed and left. He's going after the twins and I'm scared. If he goes after them and they..." She paused for a moment, as tears filled her eyes. She cleared her throat, as she continued, "We just have to stop him before he gets to them."

"I'll be right there." Avery said, as she threw the covers off and jumped out of bed. She quickly got dressed and then grabbed a few weapons, before racing down the stairs and out the front door.

Teagan silently stood by her bed, tapping her foot impatiently, until she heard the front door open downstairs. She called out for her best friend as she heard her footsteps running up the stairs.

"Key." Avery said, as she soon as she stepped into the room.

"Top drawer." Teagan answered, as she nodded her head over toward the bedside table.

Avery ran over to the other side of the bed, pull the drawer open and began to look inside. She pushed other things aside and grabbed the small key once she located it; running back to Teagan she unlocked the cuffs.

"Thanks." Teagan said, as she rubbed her sore wrist.

As Avery nodded her head, as if to say 'welcome', Teagan ran over to her closet, pulling out the first pair of jeans she could find and slipped them on. She grabbed a pair of running shoes, slipping them on, as she walked over toward her dresser to grabbed the daggers that were on top.

She turned around to look at Avery, as she asked, "Do you have any weapons on you? I don't have time to run downstairs to grab more." Her dad only allowed her to keep any in the house if she kept most of them locked up in the basement.

"I grabbed a few before I left." Avery answered, then nodded her head toward the door, as she added, "Let's go."

The two friends ran down the stairs together and headed for the door. Teagan yelled out to Aspen to stay as she grabbed a jacket hanging by the door, before running after Avery and sat down in the passenger seat as Avery pulled out on to the road.

"Faster. You've got to go faster." Teagan said over to Avery, as she tried to reach Isaac on his cell phone. She silently cursed when it went to voice mail.

"I'm already going over 80, T." Avery pointed out. "Besides I don't even know where I need to go faster to! Where would he go?"

"I don't know!" Teagan yelled, as she tried to call his phone again. She rubbed her forehead and took several deep breaths, as she tried to ignore the voice in her head, the one that was laughing at her at the moment. "He-he's going after the twins. Where would they be right now?" She questioned out loud.

Avery shook her head, having no clue, it's not like she and the twins were best friends who hung out daily. She had no idea what they did in their spare time.

"Come on, Isaac. Answer. Answer!" Teagan yelled out, as she tried his number again with no luck. She looked down at her phone, planning to try him again until a text message from Lydia popped up on her phone, she had sent her one earlier asking if Aiden was with her. She gaspped, as she said, "School. Go to school, that's where they are heading."

"Got it." Avery said, as she did a quick u-turn, before speeding down the road toward the high school.

After arriving at school and grabbing more weapons, the two girls ran down the hallway trying to locate Isaac and the twins. They skidded to a stop in the middle of a hallway, looking to their left and then their right, wondering which way to go next.

"Which way should we go?" Teagan questioned out loud.

"I don't..." Avery began to say, as she looked to her left, then paused when she saw a duffel bag laying on the floor. "T..." She said, as she reached out to hit her arm, getting her best friend's attention.

Teagan turned her head, looking in the direction that Avery was, seeing the bag and took a few steps down the hallway toward it. Her eyes widen when she saw something else on the floor. The taser she kept in her car for emergencies.

"Locker room." Teagan stated, realizing where they were.

"You go that way..." Avery began to say, as she pointed down the hallway wanting Teagan to circle around and enter the locker room from the other side. She pointed to the door closest to them, as she continued, "And I'll go this way. We'll meet in the middle."

"Okay, be careful." Teagan said to her best friend, before she raced down the hallway as fast she could.

Avery got into the locker room first, seeing Isaac coming out of coach's office holding a Molotov cocktail in one hand and a lighter in the other one. When she saw him planning to light the handkerchief on the end of the bottle, she reached inside her jacket pocket pulling out a smaller dagger –one perfect for throwing, then threw it toward the bottle causing it shatter in his hand.

Isaac turned his head to the side, seeing his blonde friend standing there. He smirked, as he said, "Not bad. What other toys do you have, A?"

He took a step toward her, causing her to take a step back as she reached into her other pocket and pulled out her nunchuks. She held on to one end of the stick and whirled it around a couple of times, before catching the other end of the stick under her arm. She raised her free arm, getting in a fighter's stance as she waited to see what he would do next.

Isaac quietly growled as he took a few more steps toward her. With his back turned, Teagan ran into the room then jumped up to kick him in the back, causing him to stumble forward and fall on the floor near the twins.

Teagan pointed the crossbow at him, as she called out his name, hoping to reach out to him. He snapped his head over toward her, his eyes flashing for a moment as he growled at her.

"Isaac, listen to me." Teagan said, pleading with him. She noticed Avery walking over to her from the corner of her eye, the two best friends now standing side by side.

Avery's eyes widen when she saw Isaac and the twins stand up, all three wolfing out as they began to walk toward the two girls.

"Isaac... please." Teagan tried again, hoping he would listen to her.

"T... This isn't working." Avery said, as she grabbed her best friend's arm and took a step back.

Teagan jerked her arm away from Avery, not hearing a word she said at the moment all she could hear was her mother yelling at her to shoot. She felt her hand shaking, her finger itching to pull the trigger, as she pointed the crossbow at Isaac.

Avery glanced over at Teagan, seeing the strange look on her face. She yelled out her name, as she grabbed her arm again, pulling her backwards and into coach's office.

Slamming the door shut, she looked over at her brunette friend again as she yelled out, "Desk. Push the desk against the door."

Teagan turned away from Avery, ignoring her as she mumbled to herself, arguing with her mother. Avery shook her head, swearing out loud, as she ran over to the desk using all of her strength to push against the desk but only caused it to move a little bit, nowhere near the door to block the werewolves from coming in.

"Tuer ou être tué." Teagan quietly said to herself, after hearing the phrase over and over in her head, she couldn't stop herself from repeating it. "No, no. I-I can't." She mumbled, as she shook her head, arguing with herself.

She heard her mother's whispery voice saying her name and felt a slight breeze on the back of her neck, almost like her mother was standing behind her –pushing her to do it. To take out her friends. She told her she didn't have a choice. If she didn't kill Isaac and the twins now they would turn on her, then it was only a matter of time before Avery did as well.

"You have enough arrows to shoot all four in the heart right now. Do it, Teagan. Do it now!" Lisa yelled in her head.

Teagan took several deep breaths as she raised the crossbow, pointing it at Avery's back. She bit her bottom lip, holding back a sob. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt her best friend, but she couldn't stop herself. It was like she had no control at all.

"Help me!" Avery yelled out without turning around. "Teagan!" She called, finally getting through to her best friend.

Teagan blinked and gasped as she realized what she was about to do. She quickly tossed the crossbow on the desk, then walked over to stand beside Avery. She laid her hands on the desk, helping Avery push the desk toward the door to lock them inside and away from the werewolves.

The two girls stared out the window on the door, wondering what was going to happen next. Would Isaac and the twins try to break into the room and attack them? Would the desk be able to keep them out?

"Oh my god." Teagan breathed out, when she saw Isaac turn around to face the twins.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Avery stated, as the twins began to growl at Isaac.

"They're going to kill him." Teagan said fearfully, as she saw one of the twins push Isaac backwards, his back hitting the door and shattering the window. "Isaac!" She screamed, as she raced over to the door.

"Teagan, desk!" Avery called out, letting her best friend know they needed to move the desk before they could leave the room.

Teagan ran over to Avery, the two girls pulling the desk back far enough for them to squeeze out the door. With the crossbow back in Teagan's hand and the nunchuk in Avery's hand, the two girls raced into the room, trying to separate the three werewolves.

Avery faced off against the twins, eyeing both of them as they growled and walked toward her, she twirled the nunchuk around in front of her, then moved it toward Aiden; the end of it smacking him in the face. She turned to her other side, facing Ethan, and kicked him in the stomach.

While he was bent over she dropped her elbow down on his back, knocking him to the ground. She quickly spun around, seeing Aiden coming toward her, she threw up her hands getting into position to fight if he came after her.

"Aiden, calm down. I don't want to hurt..." Avery began to say, then paused, as she smirked then continued, "Actually on second thought, I do want to hurt you. Just give me a reason..."

Aiden snarled at her before rushing toward her, the two beginning to fight each other. He got a few punches in, but the rest she was able to block then threw out several punches of her own.

On the other side of the locker room, Isaac was slowly walking toward Teagan; who kept taking steps backwards and kept the crossbow pointed at his chest, fighting the urge to not squeeze the trigger.

"I-Isaac? Baby, please, listen to me." Teagan began to say, her voice quivering. "Please, Isaac, come back to me. This isn't you." She pleaded.

She took a deep breath, trying to ignore her mother's voice as she whispered, "I need you, Isaac. It's you and me, remember?"

"Do it, Teagan. Shoot him, shoot him!" Lisa yelled in her mind.

"No." Teagan whimpered out, as she shook her head, refusing to hurt her boyfriend. There had to be a way to reach him, like she told him earlier, there were other ways to do things than with weapons.

Afraid she would slip up and shoot him, she tossed the crossbow down, then softly gasp when she saw him dive toward her, knocking them back to the floor.

Isaac hovered over her, as she laid flat on her back. She laid her hands on his chest, pushing him back with all she had as he snarled at her. She wrapped a leg around his waist, then quickly flipped them so she was now on top. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a dagger, then without even thinking about it, placed it against his throat.

Realizing what she done, she quickly jumped up and dropped the dagger with a horrified look on her face when she realized that not only could she have sliced his throat, but for a split second she wanted to. She had wanted to hurt him.

Teagan took a few more steps backwards until her back slammed into something, or rather someone. Avery reached back, grabbing Teagan's hand, as she asked, "T, are you okay?"

When her best friend didn't answer, Avery glanced over her shoulder seeing that Teagan was standing very still, almost as if in a daze. "Teagan, snap out of it! Grab a dagger and fight."

"Tuer ou être tué." Teagan mumbled, repeating the words in her head.

"No!" Avery snapped, as she turned around. She grabbed Teagan's shoulder, turning her to face her as she said, "No. Not kill or be killed. Fight to survive. Have my back, save your boyfriend and let's get through this, okay?" When Teagan didn't answer and just looked at her with a stranger expression, Avery shook her shoulders, as she yelled out, "Okay!"

Teagan blinked, looking at Avery and looking more like herself, as she nodded her head in agreement. She turned back around, reaching into her jacket pocket to pull out another dagger.

The two friends stood back to back, as Isaac began to walk toward Teagan and the twins toward Avery. They stood, weapons out and ready, waiting to see what would happen next but they were surprised when the three werewolves fall to the floor, black liquid pouring from their mouths.

"Isaac." Teagan breathed out, as she dropped her weapon and ran over to him falling down to her knees beside his body.

She looked over at Avery, seeing that she was checking on the twins. "What's going on? What is this?" She asked her blonde friend before looking back down at Isaac, a worried look on her face.

"I don't know." Avery said, as she shook her head. She reached into her pocket, pulling out her cell phone, as she said, "But I think I know someone who will."

**~()~**

"What happened?" Dr. Deaton asked as he rushed into the locker room at the school, after getting a frantic phone call from Avery.

"We don't know!" Teagan yelled as she sat on the shower floor beside Isaac as he continued to cough up a black substance from his body trying to heal himself.

Avery was hovering over the twins who were having the same reaction Isaac was.

Grabbing Aiden's face, she made him face her as she saw more black liquid running from the corner of his mouth, she shook her head back and forth, "It's like their bodies are trying to heal… but I don't know what from. All of their physical injuries from the fight are healed, I checked."

With a terrified expression, Teagan looked up and said, "A… his body temperature just keeps going up."

Deaton surveyed the room and watched as Avery reached over putting the back of her hand against Ethan's forehead before mumbling they were also hotter than normal.

Looking around Teagan's eyes stopped on the dial for the showerhead above where Isaac was laying on the floor, with his head in her lap. Straining a little she leaned forward and turned the water on cold.

Isaac made a noise and tried to get away from the cold water, but Teagan pulled him back down, shivering as the frigid water started to puddle up on the floor around her and soak into her clothes. Rubbing his damp hair off of his forehead Teagan breathed out, "Shh, you're okay. You're going to be okay."

Tears stung her eyes as she remembered how close she'd came to losing him before as she whimpered, "You have to be okay…"

After the turning the cold water on above the twins, Avery turned around and let out a frustrated scream as she punched the hard tile of the shower wall and yelled, "Damn it! I'm supposed to be able to fix this…"

Turning around she asked, "What kind of emissary am I, if I can't even fix a problem with my pack?" Her gaze helplessly fell to Isaac, and then over to the twins who she still didn't like but accepted they were becoming a part of the pack.

"One who is still learning." Deaton confidently assured her as he stepped into the communal shower.

Avery shook her head back and forth like she didn't believe him.

Looking between the twins his eyes landed on Ethan as he said, "Stand up."

Walking over to them Avery helped Deaton pull the beta to his feet, where Deaton made him open his mouth and looked inside trying to find the cause of what kept weakening and injuring the wolves.

"Okay…" Deaton breathed out as he, said, "Ethan, this is going to be unpleasant, but I need you to hold still."

He started to ask what was happening, but before he could the veterinarian took hold of the bottom of his chin with one hand and started to reach into his mouth with the other.

Avery and Teagan watched with wide eyes as Ethan gagged, and his claws came out, scratching against the tiles until finally Dr. Deaton removed his hand presenting a dead fly.

"Ugh…" Ethan breathed with a disgusted expression as he leaned over still gagging slightly.

Avery turned and helped Aiden up to his feet as the wolf backed up against the wall under the stream of water and shook his head back and forth, "No."

"Stop being a baby." She said rolling her eyes at him as she grabbed his chin the way Deaton had done to his brother, and when he opened his mouth to protest again, she pushed her other hand into his mouth trying to feel around for the dead fly.

Aiden gagged and his eyes glowed blue, which Avery gasped when she saw that and quickly threatened, "You bite me, and I swear to god I'll…"

Her voice trailed off as she finally found what she was looking for and she removed the dead fly lodged in the side of the entrance to her throat.

As she pulled her hand out they both looked at it, and Aiden leaned over holding onto his knees as he coughed.

Avery looked over and saw Deaton trying to get the fly out of Isaac, and telling him to not fight it, as Teagan lovingly rubbed her hands over her boyfriends back trying to calm him down until finally the fly was removed from him also.

"Got it!" He exclaimed as he dropped the fly to the floor and it was washed down the drain.

"Are they okay now?" Teagan asked, as he shut off the shower water.

"Well, the part that worrisome, is that this was most likely just a distraction for what was happening to Stiles…" Deaton said, as he then explained the nogitsune had split from Stiles.

"There's really two of them now? How is that even possible?" Teagan asked shocked, as she looked over to see Avery scrubbing her hands in the sink.

Turning around and grabbing papertowel to dry her hands, Avery angrily asked, "And how the hell was one of them able to walk right past everyone with Lydia?"

"We turned around and they were gone… so was her car." He explained, looking back to where Teagan was holding onto Isaac, thankful he was alright.

"So no one noticed him kidnapping her, right out of the house?" Aiden asked as he walked up to the group.

"Most of us were concentrated on the bizarre sight of a creature, materializing out of the floor." Deaton defended, feeling like the teens were blaming him for the disappearance of their friend.

"Wait…" Teagan breathed, "How you even sure which Stiles is which?"

"That's what they're trying to figure out now." He answered, looking over to where Avery told the twins to go on and help everyone else, that the rest of them would catch up.

Once Ethan and Aiden were gone, Avery looked at Deaton and said, "I need your help…"

"With?" He questioned, surprised at her. She only asked for help when she was out of options.

Isaac wrapped his arms around Teagan and pressed a kiss to the top of her head as Avery admitted, "I need to get back inside of Teagan's head… everything is getting so much worse and we're running out of time."

Teagan pinned her eyes shut and quietly said, "You tried it before and my mom kicked you right out."

"Yeah." Isaac agreed nodding, "The whole thing barely lasted 5 minutes."

"I can do it, I know I can beat her… I'm just not sure how." She said, looking back to Deaton who had a worried expression on his face.

"What you're talking about, doesn't just involve you leaving your body to get into your friend's head. You're talking about facing off with a powerful spirit." He reasoned, thinking the entire thing was a bad idea.

"And it needs to happen now… before Lisa can get any stronger."

"Avery…" Isaac said shaking his head back and forth as he remembered how much the first attempt had taken out of her.

"Don't you Avery me." She snapped looking over at him, then back to Dr. Deaton, as she continued, "I can do this."

"There are a lot of risks that need to be taken into consideration…" He kept trying to warn her against it, but she wouldn't hear any of it, "I don't care."

"Starting with the fact that there is no guarantee you'll make it back to your own body." He spoke loudly, trying to get the point across.

Avery glanced down and swallowed hard as she remembered being lost in darkness after getting into her mom's head before she finally woke back up in her own body.

"What does that even mean?" Teagan asked, her voice shaky as she clutched onto Isaac.

"It means, that if she's not strong enough after the fight with your mother to get back into her own head, then she'll be lost." He answered honestly.

"Like… dead?" Isaac asked.

"No." Avery snapped.

"Not entirely." Deaton explained, "Her body will still be alive, but you'll be lost in a state of unconscious… and there's no guarantee you'll ever wake up."

"That won't happen. I've always came back… I put myself into a state of hyperconsciousness to get to Teagan when she went into that ice bath and I bought myself back. No anchor, no help… I did it on my own, and if you just help me… I can do this too. I can save her." Avery pleaded for his understanding, and avoided the looks Isaac and Teagan were giving her.

"This is infinitely more dangerous than what you did that day." He argued.

"Stop, just stop." Teagan said breaking away from Isaac's hold as she crossed her arms over her chest and said, "You're not doing this… you're not putting yourself through that for me."

"Yes, I am." Avery argued.

Shaking her head back and forth Teagan argued, "A… if something happened and you didn't come back… I wouldn't know what to do."

Closing her eyes and trying to ignore the pained look in her friend's eyes, Avery said, "T, when I shove that bitch out of your head and I get that door shut, you'll be fine, you'll be you again. And you've got Isaac, and your dad… all of your friends. You'll be okay."

"N-no, I wouldn't… not without you." She stuttered out, realizing what Avery was saying to her.

"Teagan." Avery sighed cutting off her protests, "I saw you in the fight earlier… you kept spacing out and there times…"

"What?" Teagan asked, her voice trembling from emotion; she had a feeling she didn't want to hear the rest of her friends argument.

"When the look on your face scared me… and I honestly thought you were going to be fighting against me, instead of beside me."

The brunette gasped, and took a tumbling step backwards but Isaac quickly caught her and kept her upright as everything in her body went weak.

"You can't keep going on like that, T. You're barely functioning anymore, you told me yourself that you don't know how much longer you can hold on… you know it has to happen, Teagan you know I have to do this." Avery said with a weak smile as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"But what if you…" She started to argue, with tears falling down he own cheeks.

"If the situation were reversed, would you risk it to save me?"

Without a moment of hesitation, Teagan nodded her head, her chin quivering more with each second.

"Then you understand why I have to do this." Avery said as she stepped forward and wrapped her friend in hug. Both girls clutched onto each other, crying at the thought of something going wrong and one or both of them not making it out alive.

Isaac took a few steps away to leave them alone as he walked over to Deaton and asked, "There's a chance this plan could really work? That Avery can really somehow beat Teagan's mom and shut the door?"

"There is a chance." Deaton replied, with a somber expression as he watched the girls and said, "But it's going to be excruciating."

"For Avery?" Isaac asked, remembering the yell of pain the blonde had let out when she got into Teagan's head before.

Slowly turning his head and looking at the teenage werewolf, Dr. Deaton admitted, "For them both…"

**~()~**

Isaac made a right hand turn, turning on to another road and heading for the animal clinic. He glanced over beside him at Teagan, who was quietly sitting in the passenger seat. He saw her close her eyes and take a deep breath, before softly talking to herself. It was so low and so fast, he only caught a few words but he knew without a doubt that she was arguing with her mother.

Keeping one hand on the wheel, he reached out with his other one grabbing her hand, as he said, "It's going to be okay, babe."

"It's not." Teagan whispered, as she shook her head. "We can't let her do this. Avery, she-she can't get back into my head again, it's too dangerous." She explained, as she looked over at him.

"Is that what your mom says?" Isaac questioned, as he glanced over at her for a minute, before looking back at the road. She didn't have to answer for him to know. He knew her mother was putting things in her head, literally; showing her all the ways this could go wrong and trying to scare her.

"It doesn't matter what she says." Teagan said, as she shook her head. "This is too dangerous to do. Too much could go wrong."

"May-maybe it won't." Isaac stated. He couldn't deny that the whole thing made him nervous, she was right, too much could go wrong and both girls were important to him. Teagan was his life, he couldn't live without her and if this made her better he was all for it, but Avery was also one of his best friends.

From the beginning she pushed him to go after what he wanted, to go after who he wanted. He owed her a lot and the thought of something bad happening to her was upsetting. He honestly felt torn, like he had to choose between the girl he loves and a close friend. It wasn't a feeling he liked at all.

He knew he had to be brave though, he had to have hope that Avery could do it, that she could shut the door and make it back. He had to believe that Teagan would be okay, that this would fix her and she'd come back to him. No matter what he couldn't lose either girl, the love of his life or his friend.

He pulled the car into the parking lot, seeing that Avery and Deaton were already there waiting for them inside. He shut off the car, then turned in his seat to look at her as he said, "Maybe this will work. Then you'll be better. No more voices, no more hallucinations, no more nightmares, no more urges to kill. It'll all be gone."

"Yeah, but at what price." Teagan said back, as she turned her head to look at him. "What if something goes wrong?" She softly asked, worried about Avery and herself.

"It won't." Isaac said back, as he shook his head, hoping he sounded braver than he felt. He grabbed her hands, bringing them to his lips, as he kissed the back of them, before saying, "I'll be right there. If something happened I'll pull you back, I'll always pull back, Teagan. It's you and me."

"It's you and me." She whispered, drawing strength from those four words.

"I'll even pull Avery back too. Although we both know Avery Dukate doesn't need anyone to pull her back." Isaac pointed out with a smile.

"That is true. Avery Dukate can do anything." Teagan said back with a small smile, there wasn't much her best friend couldn't do.

"See." Isaac said smiling as he tapped the end of her nose, causing her to smile more. He leaned forward to softly kiss her lips before pulling back and saying, "It's going to be okay."

Teagan gripped his hands tight as she took a deep breath, then nodded her head at his words, holding on to the hope that he had. That everything would work out right and everything would be okay.

He gave her one more quick kiss, knowing she needed it just as much as he did before they stepped out of the car and walked into the building together, hand and hand. Isaac followed Deaton and Avery's hushed voices toward the back of the building; where Deaton tried to talk her out of doing this, explaining the dangers of it again, but she wouldn't listen. He tighten his hold around Teagan, hearing her heart began to race and felt his doing the same as the two stepped into the room and joined Deaton and Avery.

Hearing the other two enter the room, Avery shushed Deaton, then turned her head to watch Teagan and Isaac. She flashed them a small smile, then looked at Teagan as she asked if she was ready to do this.

Teagan turned her head toward Isaac, looking at him for a moment. He squeezed her hand with a smile, as he nodded his head at her, telling her again it was going to be okay. She flashed him a small smile back, then mouthed the words,'I love you', before turning her head back toward Avery as she nodded her head, telling her she was ready.

Deaton sighed, realizing he wasn't going to be able to talk Avery out of doing this. The blonde was determined to help her best friend no matter what. He instructed both girls to sit on top of the long, metal table; facing each other.

Isaac turned Teagan to face him, before pressing his lips against hers for a tender kiss. He pulled back, laying his hands on either side of her face, just staring at her, as if he was memorizing her features, but he knew this wasn't the last time he would see her. He had to believe this wasn't the end for them. They had been through a lot together; a kanima, alphas, ice baths, hallucinations and the list went on. If they could get through all of that, they could get through this.

He opened his mouth to speak those thoughts out loud to her but she shook her head, as if already knowing what he was going to say. She leaned forward to kiss him, putting everything she was feeling into the kiss.

"There's only one thing you need to say. Just one thing that is going to get us through this." Teagan whispered to him.

Isaac softly smiled, as he said, "It's you and me. It's always going to be you and me, Teagan."

"Always." She whispered back, as she reached up to caress his cheek.

When he felt her pull away, he regrettably let go and watched as she walked over toward the table. She nervously spoke to Deaton a little, while Avery took a few steps away slipping her jacket off.

Isaac walked over toward Avery and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say a word, she interrupted and said, "Don't worry, I'm going to fix her. You'll get your Teagan back."

"I was going to tell you to be careful." Isaac stated.

"I just want to save my best friend, save the girl that you love. That is all that matters." Avery honestly said. She didn't care what happened to her, she just wanted to save Teagan. Finally be able to fix her and right one of her wrongs. This was all her fault and she had to be the one to fix it.

"Avery, are you sure you can do this?" He quietly asked, as he glanced over at his girlfriend for a moment then looked back at his friend. He wanted the door closed just as badly as they did, he hated this was happening to Teagan, but no matter how brave he tried to appear the whole thing still scared him.

Avery snapped her head to the side to look at him with raised eyebrows, as she said, "You think I can't do this."

"That's not what I'm saying." Isaac said, as he rolled his eyes. "I know you can do this, but you heard Deaton."

Avery didn't say anything for a moment, as she turned her head to look over at Teagan; who was still talking to Deaton. She nervously cleared her throat then looked back at Isaac as she said, "Whatever happens, just take care of her. She loves you so much, you are her future, and I.." She paused for a moment, feeling tears fill her eyes, before she quietly added, "And I'm not sure I even have a future anymore." She wiped at her eyes, then added with a shrug, "Maybe this is my fate. Saving my best friend so she can have her best chance at a full life. This is what I'm here for. This is my life..."

"I don't believe that." Isaac said, as he shook his head. He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze as he said, "You have to come back too, A. For Teagan, for me, for everyone."

"Just take care of Teagan." Avery stated, ignoring what he said as she turned and walked over toward Deaton and Teagan.

Isaac shook his head, a part of him wanting to stop this whole thing but knew it was probably the only way to save his girlfriend. It was no secret that she was getting worse, her mother was getting stronger, if they didn't do this soon -they would lose her. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling torn again. He looked over at Avery, seeing the look she was giving him and knew even if he wanted to stop her, he couldn't.

There was no stopping Avery Dukate.

As Deaton spoke to the girls, Isaac walked over to toward them, standing beside Teagan. She grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze, then looked over at him the two saying everything they needed to say in one look.

When Deaton told them to get on the table, Isaac laid his hands on Teagan's sides to stop her. Avery; who was already sitting on the table, turned to watch the couple. She opened her mouth, planning to call out to Isaac, thinking he was going to try to stop them but instead he just leaned forward, resting his forehead against Teagan's for a moment before he lifted her up and sat her down on the table.

Teagan laid a hand on the side of his face, giving him a small smile before she turned and scooted to the middle of the table to sit in front of Avery. When she saw tears fill her best friend's eyes, Avery reached out to grab one of Teagan's hands giving it a squeeze, as she assured her,"It's going to be okay."

"You don't know that." Teagan breathed out, as she reached up to wipe a tear away.

"I promise you are going to be okay." Avery stated with a nod. It was a promise she was going to be do whatever it took to keep.

"Avery..."

"Shh..." Avery whispered, interrupting her. She reached forward to wipe the tears from under Teagan's eyes, as she began to softly sing, "Firefly, firefly don't go away..."

Teagan pulled in a deep breathed, before whispering,"Butterfly, butterfly why don't you stay?"

Avery softly smiled. She knew singing the nursery rhyme was probably silly but hoped by doing so it would calm her best friend by reminding her of their history. That no matter what happened, they would always be connected.

Even if they were not blood, they would always be sisters.

Seeing that the two girls were ready, Deaton grabbed a glass jar filled with herbs, then cleared his throat, getting their attention. "You'll need this." He said to Avery.

"What is it?" Isaac questioned, as he lowered his eyebrows in confusion.

"Different herbs." Deaton began to say, as he waited for Avery to hold out her hand. He poured the mixture in her hand, as he continued, "But the most common one is-"

"Chamomile." Avery spoke up, when she recognized the herb.

Deaton gave her a nod and smiled, glad to see she was learning. He had no doubt she would be an amazing emissary to her pack and learn to control herself. It was just going to take time and practice.

"Why chamomile?" Teagan questioned.

Deaton looked over at Avery, waiting to see if she would answer and wasn't surprised when she spoke up and said, "It's a relaxing herb. It helps with anxiety and can relax the muscles. Some people use it to help them sleep."

"It'll help you slip into the type of unconsciousness you need to get into Teagan's mind. None of this is going to be easy or pleasant, but this is a safer way to do it." Deaton explained. He nodded his head toward the herbs as he continued, "The rest of those herbs will keep you grounded. Giving you a better chance to make it back to your own mind."

Before anyone could say anything else, he added ,"Now I must warn you, chances are, Lisa is waiting for you... that she might know what you have planned."

"She does." Teagan softly spoke up. She glanced down at the table, trying to ignore her mother's voice as she yelled at her. Telling her this was a big mistake, that they couldn't stop her. This idiotic plan was going to be the death of her and Avery.

"Meaning..." Deaton continued to say, "She's going to try to trick you. She's going to do anything she can to keep you from shoving her back into that door and shutting it. Be prepared for anything."

"I'm ready for whatever she throws my way." Avery said confidently.

Deaton nodded his head as he took a step toward the table. There wasn't much more he could say, he had already tried to warn the blonde with no success. Now all he could do was hope this worked or hope there was something he could do to fix things if the worst happened.

Avery stared straight ahead at her best friend, seeing the worried look on her face and flashed her a small smile, as she asked, "You ready?"

Teagan glanced over at Isaac, seeing him standing beside her at the table. After he gave her a short nod, she turned her head back to look at Avery, as she nodded her head.

Avery squeezed her hand, holding on tightly to the herbs, then lifted her other hand, placing her fingers on the side of Teagan's head. Like the last time, Isaac saw Teagan's eyes flutter shut as a pained look crossed her face. He balled his hand in a fist fighting the urge to break the connection and end the pain he knew she was in, but he knew he couldn't do it.

Instead he had to stand there helplessly and do nothing, watching it all play out.

He glanced over at Avery, hearing her breathing pick up as she began to moan out in pain. Also like last time, he saw the lights overhead begin to flicker, as she drew power from them.

"Avery..." Deaton softly said, as he took a step closer to her. "Concentrate on the herbs, draw from them." He added, breathing a sigh of relief once the lights stop flickering. He needed her to draw from the herbs, it was the only way to keep her grounded –if she drew from something else it was too unpredictable.

Isaac looked over at Deaton, trying to read his face to see if this was working, but the older man was giving nothing away. His eyes went back to his girlfriend when she let out another pained groan. He wished he knew what was happening now, he wished there was a way to help her but once again all he could do was stand there feeling helpless. All he could do was have hope that this worked, hope that both girls would be okay.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN - ^_^ We both hope you liked the chapter, thank you so much for reading!**


	33. All In My Head

**Chapter 33 - All In My Head**

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><p>With a gasp, Avery opened her eyes, seeing that she was in a hallway again like last time she was in Teagan's mind, only this time –there was more than one door. There were several on either side of her, going all the way down the hall and every single one was open.<p>

"Bitch is not making this easy on me." Avery softly said, as she took a few steps down the hall; glancing in each door she passed and wondered how she was going to figure out which door was the right door.

She passed a few more doors, then paused as she turned to look at the door on her left. She couldn't explain it, but she felt drawn to the door. Thinking maybe it was the right one; she began to walk closer to it and peeked inside.

She didn't know why, but she felt like she should walk inside. Without another thought, she stepped over the threshold and paused when she saw a set of stairs in front of her, a very familiar set of stairs.

She took a few steps forward, slowly circling around as she glanced around, realizing she was in a house. One that she had been in several times before after it was set on fire, but now it was back to its former glory –she was inside the Hale house, but had no idea how she got there.

While she was facing the front door, she heard someone coming down the stairs causing her to spin around, expecting to see Lisa, but was surprised when she realized it was Derek.

"Derek?" She questioned, with a confused look on her face.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Derek teased, as he stepped off the last step, standing in front of her.

"What are you-what are you doing here?" Avery asked.

"What am I doing here? You mean here, in our home, where we both live?" Derek continued to joke.

"We-we live here?" Avery stuttered.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked back, with a worried look. "If you're too tired we don't have to go out. We can just stay here."

"What? No, I'm not-I'm okay." Avery answered, as she rubbed her forehead.

"You sure?" Derek questioned, as he stepped closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, as he added, "Because now that I think about, I think I like the idea of staying in." He pressed his lips against hers for a tender kiss, as he continued, "Yeah, I'm really liking this idea."

Avery smiled at his words and laid her hands on his chest, running them up to wrap her arms around his neck. He began to kiss her again, as he backed her up until her back hit the wall.

He grabbed a fistful of her hair, tilting her head to the side as he placed his lips against the side of her neck, nibbling and sucking on her skin. Avery groaned as she dug her fingers into his shoulders, feeling that familiar flutter that she use to get when they kissed –but when she closed her eyes she saw a quick flash of green eyes, causing her eyes to snap open.

"Wait, stop." Avery breathed out, as she laid her hands on Derek's chest and lightly pushed him back.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked, with a confused look.

"This isn't right." Avery said, as she stepped away from the wall. She shook her head, as she said, "This isn't- we're not together anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Derek questioned.

"We're not good together, Derek. Not anymore and I-I.."

"You what?" He asked, when she paused.

"I moved on." Avery quietly said. "This isn't my dream anymore, this isn't real. This is a distraction." She stated, as she realized what was going on. Lisa was trying to stop her from closing the door.

With that thought in mind, she quickly turned around, running to the front door and threw it open before running out, finding herself back in the hall she was in earlier.

She bent over, placing her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. At one point, being with Derek in a normal relationship was all she wanted and for a moment she slipped up. For a moment she wanted to stay in that life until she saw them, the flash of green eyes that belonged to Parrish. She wasn't all sure what exactly that meant, but right now, she didn't have time to think about it. She had to find that door and fast.

She went to take a step down the hallway, until she heard a whimpering noise coming from behind her. She turned around with a confused look, listening out for more, but heard nothing. She turned back around and took a small step, then heard the noise again.

She turned back around and began to walk down the hall trying to follow the noise. She heard it louder as she passed by a door on the right. Like before, she couldn't stop herself from walking inside the room.

But this door didn't lead her to the Hale house, this door took her to a small room inside Eichen house. She would recognize a room from there anywhere, it was something she could never forget but what surprised her inside the room was seeing Teagan strapped to the bed, a piece of tape covering her mouth.

At seeing her best friend, Teagan tried to yell out to her, her voice muffed against the tape, as she wiggled around, trying to get free.

"T, what are you doing here?" Avery questioned, as she rushed across the room, carefully taking the tape from her mouth.

"I-I don't know." Teagan cried out. "I think we did something wrong this time. All I know is I woke up strapped to this bed in Eichen House. Avery, you have to get me out of here."

"Okay, hold on." Avery said. She looked down at the straps trying to figure out how to undo them.

Once she figured it out, she quickly undid them and helped Teagan to sit up. She saw Teagan bend over, trying to catch her breath after struggling to get out for a while.

"Are you okay?" Avery asked her. When she nodded her head, she continued, "Good, cause we have to go."

"Is something wrong?" Teagan asked, as she lifted her head.

"No... At least I don't think so, but I don't know how much time we have before your mom shows up." Avery explained. "Plus the longer I am in your head, the more it hurts you."

"And what about you? How are you feeling?" Teagan asked.

"I'm okay." Avery lied.

"Avery..."

"I'm feeling weak." Avery finally admitted with a sigh.

"What does that mean?" Teagan asked, as she stood up from the bed.

"I don't know, but it can't be good… so let's go." Avery said, as she grabbed her arm and began to lead her out of the room.

The two girls made their way out in to the hall, this time there was only one door. The door they needed to close.

"Is that it?" Teagan questioned.

"Yeah." Avery answered, as she tightened her grip on her arm. "Come on." She added, as the two friends began to run down the hallway.

Avery grabbed the door and tried shut it, then lowered her eyebrows in confusion when it wouldn't even budge. She pulled on it a few more times and then let out a frustrated groan.

"What's wrong?" Teagan questioned.

"I don't know." Avery said. She looked around the door frame, trying to figure out what was keeping it from shutting.

"May-maybe you should step inside. Try to shut it from that way." Teagan suggested.

"Maybe." Avery mumbled, as she kept looking at the door. She thought about what Teagan said, then added, "Maybe if you push while I pull we can get it unstuck, then we can close it."

"What if you get stuck on the other side?" Teagan questioned. When she didn't answer, Teagan called out her name, getting her attention.

"Then you go on, T. You go and have your full life with Isaac…your dad and with your friends." Avery said, as she turned around to face her. "You go on, Teagan. You go and you live for the both of us."

"Avery..." She cried out.

Avery ignored her, as she turned back around to face the door. "I mean it, T. If I don't come back, don't fight to save me."

"Okay." Teagan stated with sadness in her eyes.

Avery lowered her eyebrows in confusion. The voice sounded like Teagan, but she knew it wasn't her best friend. She quickly turned around, laying an arm across her throat, as she backed her up until her back slammed against the wall.

"You're not Teagan." Avery asserted, seeing her best friend transform into her mother, Lisa, before her eyes.

"What gave it away?" Lisa asked, as she tilted her head to the side. "I've known my daughter all her life, I thought I played her very well."

"Teagan would never agree that easily. She would fight me on this. We would go back and forth a few times, before she'll finally come around, but she wouldn't be happy about it."

"Right. Because my daughter is an idiot who would risk her own life for someone like you." Lisa spat out, as she looked over Avery like she was a disgusting bug she just stepped on.

Avery shook her head in disbelief, as she asked, "Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this to your own daughter?"

"I'm trying to save my daughter." Lisa snapped, as she pushed Avery away from her and stepped away from the wall.

"By making her kill the ones she loves the most." Avery snapped back. She took a step back, as Lisa walked toward her, the two circling around each other. "Do you know what that would do to her if she killed her friends? If she killed me or Isaac? If she lost Isaac she would never be the same. She would literally lose her mind, and if she was the one who did it. She would never get over that. The guilt would kill her. Is that what you want?"

"I just want the poison out of her life. She'll be better in time, she'll even thank me." Lisa said, actually believing her own words. She honestly thought what she was doing was for the best.

"You really are crazy. If you really believe that, you are crazy as hell." Avery yelled out. When Lisa didn't say anything, she let out a bitter chuckle, as she continued, "You know it's sad. At one point I looked at you as a second mother. Especially after I lost my mom… you were always so sweet and caring to me. I use to envy Teagan when I saw you two together. The two of you were so close and god, she loved you so much and now... now you're nothing but a monster."

"No, Avery, that is you. You are the monster. You are the one that will be the death of all your friends. Just like your mother was the death of me." Lisa flashed her an evil grin as she added, "They will all die and it's going to be your fault. All of it, is your fault!"

The two were now standing still, after circling around each other a few times while they argued. Avery glanced over Lisa's shoulders for a quick second, noticing that she was now standing at the open door. All it would take was one push and Lisa would be back inside the door.

Avery balled her hands in fist down by her side, trying to ignore the words Lisa shouted at her. She couldn't lose focus, not now, not after she was so close to saving her best friend.

She shook her head, as she locked eyes with Lisa, seeing the hatred in her eyes. It was a shame that the woman use to be so loving and so warm and now she was so hateful and vengeful. It wasn't the version she wanted Teagan to remember, but she had a feeling her best friend would never forget. She was having her own problems remember how loving her own mother was after having to battle her.

Avery blew out a breath trying to pretend the words earlier didn't bother her, as she flashed Lisa a smile, then said, "Yeah, well, whatever happens… you won't here to see it."

"You can't stop-"

Before Lisa could finish her sentence, Avery raised her leg and kicked her in the stomach, causing her to fly backwards and into the open doorway. She quickly ran over to the door, slamming it shut, then leaned back against the door.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. It was over, she'd really done it. The door was closed in Teagan's mind and her mother was gone. Things could get back to normal for her, things were going to be okay.

Avery laid her head back against the door, trying to catch her breath. She blew out a breath, feeling tears fill her eyes as she heard Lisa's words from earlier, telling her she would be the death of her friends.

She closed her eyes, feeling a tear slide down her face, when Lisa's voice and her mother's voice began to overlap each other, both telling her she'll be the death of everyone. That she was going to lose everything.

**~()~**

While Avery had been battling Lisa, back at the clinic, Isaac and Deaton stood on either side of the table as they carefully watched both girls. Isaac felt his heart speed up every time Teagan made a noise and he saw her face scrunch up in pain.

He laid his hands on the table near where Teagan was sitting, fighting the urge to grab her and make the pain stop. He quickly looked over at Avery when she let out a painful groan, his eyes widen when he saw blood coming out of her nose.

"Something's wrong. We should stop this." Isaac stated.

"No, wait." Deaton said, stopping Isaac from reaching out and shaking Teagan. He stood in front of Avery, looking over the younger girl; her eyes were squeezed shut as if she was in pain, but he could tell she was concentrating hard to find the door. She was trying as hard as she could to shut that door and save her friend.

He placed his hand over hers, the one holding on to the herbs as he said, "You can do this, Avery. You have to keep going, you have to find that door. Do not give up; whatever she is telling you, you have to keep going."

Isaac watched Avery closely, waiting to see what happened next. He quickly turned his head to look at Teagan when he heard her gasp, his eyes widen when he saw blood dripping out of her ears.

"Teagan..." Isaac began to say nervously, terrified about what would happen next. When he saw her falling backward, he yelled at her name, then reached out to catch her before she fell from the table. He held her in his arms, her body limp, as he went down to his knees on the floor.

He glanced up for a moment, watching Deaton catching Avery, and carefully lowering her out on to the table. They watched as one of her arms hung off the table, her hand opening and the herbs falling out and hitting the floor.

Deaton glanced back over at the young girl, her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. He shook his head, as he laid a hand on her arm then stated, "She's cold."

"She is too." Isaac said, referring to Teagan, as he held her close to his body, hoping to warm her up. The last time he'd felt her this cold was after the ice bath.

He looked back down at his girlfriend, brushing her hair from her face, as he stroked her cheek. Tears filled his eyes, as he whispered,"Come back, babe. You got to come back to me. You always come back."

"Teagan, please." He pleaded, as he leaned forward to leave a tender kiss on her forehead. He moved his lips over to her ear as he whispered, "It's you and me. It's always you and me."

Isaac didn't know how long he sat there, holding her, waiting for her to wake up. It was longer than it should have been but he wasn't giving up hope that she was coming back. He had to hold on to that hope. He couldn't lose her.

Several minutes later, he quickly pulled back when he heard her finally take a deep breath and her heart rate began to pick up, returning to normal. He breathed out a sigh of relief when her eyelids fluttered opened, her bright brown eyes staring right into his blue ones.

"Isaac..." Teagan breathed out. She reached up, laying her hand on the side of his face, as tears filled her eyes –happy to see him again.

Isaac softly smiled, as he helped her sit up but kept her in his lap, as he pulled her toward him, holding her in his arms. She buried her face in his shirt, catching his scent and feeling herself relax.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breathed, then slowly released it when she realized she was okay. She felt sane, she felt normal, she felt like her self. Her thoughts were now her own. There were no whispery words, no shouting, no horrible images, nothing at all from her mother. Things were quiet in her mind, things were better. Avery did it, she shut the door.

As her best friend crossed her mind, she softly gasped and pulled back, then glanced over at the table, seeing a very still Avery lying on the table.

"A..." Teagan said, as she tried to stand up but felt a wave of dizziness hit her. Having Avery poke around in her head was draining and she felt like she had no energy.

Isaac knew she needed to rest, get her strength back, but he also knew she wouldn't just sit there and do that if there was something wrong with Avery. He knew she wanted to be there for her best friend and there would be no stopping her.

"Come on." He softly said, as he kept a hold on her and the two stood up from the floor. He kept her pressed against him, as the they slowly made their way toward the table.

Teagan leaned against the table, reaching out to grab one of Avery's hands as she said, "Come on, A. You have to wake up, you have to come back."

"You have to! We-we have plans, remember?" Teagan began to say, as tears fill down her face. "We're going to graduate together. You're going to throw me the best and the most kickass bachelorette party ever. No one else can do that, A, just you. Who else is going to be my maid of honor? When that day comes I have to have my best friend standing by my side. You have to wake up, you have to!"

Teagan choked by a sob, turning to bury her face in Isaac's shirt again. She couldn't lose her best friend. As happy as she was to be back in control in her own mind, she wished she would have fought harder to talk Avery out of doing it. This was all her fault.

"What can we do?" Isaac asked, as he looked over at Deaton.

Deaton looked down at the blonde on the table. Unfortunately there wasn't much they could do to bring her back and he couldn't help but wonder if maybe she didn't want to come back. He saw the look in her eyes before the whole thing started, she was determined but she was broken down. She knew she could do it, she had that much hope, but no hope for herself.

"All we can do is talk to her." Deaton said, then added, "Give her a reason to come back."

Isaac kept a tight hold on Teagan, then reached out with his other hand, as he laid it on Avery's arm, giving it a squeeze as he said, "Avery, you have to keep fighting. You cannot give up. You are Avery Dukate, the girl who sat down at lunch with a loner loser and demanded he came to you party. That day you told me we were friends now and honestly, I thought it was all a trick." He paused for a moment, resting his head against Teagan's when he heard her sniffing. "I thought there was no way that the Avery Dukate would want to be my friend, but you did. Along the way we became close friends, you've been there for me, giving me advice and helping me. And we're going to help you." He continued, referring to himself and Teagan. "We're not going to give up. We're going to pull you back, somehow, we will pull you back."

Teagan pulled back, as she nodded her head agreeing with him, then turned her head to look at her best friend. She grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze, as she continued, "We can't go on without you, A. We need you."

Deaton laid a hand on Avery's forehead, then sighed before saying, "She's getting colder." He looked up at the two teens across the table, as he asked, "Is there anyone else that could get through to her. Anyone we can call?"

"Teagan's her closest connection." Isaac pointed out, as he held on tight to her.

Teagan nodded her head in agreement, then stopped as a thought hit her. "Wait, there might be someone else." She stated.

"Who, Scott?" Isaac questioned, knowing the two had an alpha/emissary bond.

"He might be able to help, but I'm thinking of someone else. Someone I recently saw her getting closer to and you know Avery. She doesn't get too close with many people, but I think he can help." Teagan explain. "I just need her phone." She continued, as she tried to take a step planning to walk across the room where Avery's jacket was laying, but before she could move she felt herself falling toward the floor. She was still very weak from everything.

Isaac quickly caught her, as the two went down to the floor. He pulled her into his lap, then looked over at Deaton, as he nodded toward Avery's jacket asking him to grab it for them.

After getting the jacket from Deaton, Teagan reached into the pocket, pulling out Avery's cell phone, then scrolled through her contacts until she found the name she was looking for.

He picked up within a couple of rings, wondering why Avery would be calling him and worried something was wrong with her.

"Hello?" Parrish asked, as he answered the phone.

"Deputy Parrish? We've talked before, it's Teagan, Avery's best friend." She said.

"Is Avery okay?" Deputy Parrish questioned.

Teagan glanced over at the table, where her best friend was laying, feeling tears fill her eyes, as she said, "You should come to the animal clinic." She reached up, wiping a tear from her cheek, as she whispered, "She needs you."

After hanging up the phone, Parrish looked straight ahead, surprised by the phone call and worried about what could be wrong. He had just arrived home from work, planning to crash for a few hours before his next shift but after that phone call, there was no way he could sleep. He had to go to her.

He quickly cranked the car, then backed out of his driveway to drive to the clinic. He didn't know what would be waiting on him when he got there, but nothing had prepared him to see Avery lying out on a table, dried blood on her face, and her breathing shallow.

Parrish glanced off to the side, seeing Teagan sitting in Isaac's lap, in the time it took him to get there she had fallen asleep, feeling completely worn out.

"What happened?" Parrish questioned, as he looked at Isaac then over at Deaton.

"She's uh, she's..."

"She's not responding. Perhaps you can reach her." Deaton spoke up when he noticed Isaac was having a hard time speaking.

"Or maybe we should be calling an ambulance for her." Parrish stated, as he walked closer to the table.

"Trust me, there is nothing they can do." Deaton said back.

"What makes you think I can?" Parrish questioned. He knew he probably shouldn't, but he couldn't stop himself from reaching out and brushing her hair from her forehead, his fingertips lightly grazing her skin.

Isaac quickly raised his head when he heard Avery's heart rate pick up. Before then it was barely beating, but just one touch from Parrish caused a reaction on her.

He smiled, as he looked over to the young deputy and said, "She'll listen to you."

"What do I say?" Parrish asked, as he looked over at Isaac, then turned his head to look at Deaton, who was standing on the other side of the table.

"Just whatever comes to you." Deaton said, as he smiled at him encouraging him to try. He looked over at Isaac, as nodded his head toward the doorway, suggesting they leave them alone.

Isaac stood up from the floor, holding a sleeping Teagan in his arms, as he walked along behind Deaton to leave the room. Deaton let him go to his office, where he had a couch to lay Teagan on. He sat on the couch with her, keeping her pressed against him –he had no plans of letting her go any time soon.

Once the others were out of the room, Parrish turned back to the table watching Avery slowly breathing. He didn't know what happened to her, the others didn't explain.

After finding her in other strange situations, he knew there was something about her; something that made her different, but he didn't know what that was yet.

All he did know was tha he wanted to find out. Even if he knew it was wrong, he wanted to be in her life, he wanted to help her, but first he needed her to wake up.

He wasn't sure what to do or what to say, but the others were convinced he would do it.

Swallowing hard he stepped closer to the table and cautiously reached out, pausing for a moment, then continued to move his hand toward her hand.

He picked up her smaller hand folding both of his bigger ones over it, as he looked down at her, softly saying her name. He paused for a moment, wishing she would just open her eyes. But when nothing happened, he lowered his head for a moment resting his forehead against their joined hands.

He was silent for a few minutes before lifting his head back up, his eyes landing on her as he began to say, "Avery... It's Jordan. I don't know if you can hear me and I don't understand what's happening..."

He cleared his throat, before continuing, "But I do know you have been in the middle of other things before, a lot of strange things and I don't understand any of those either, but one thing I do know is that I have seen your strength. I have seen you overcome things and I know you can come out of this."

"Your best friend called me, Teagan... She's worried about you and from the looks on the other two faces, they are worried too." He paused for a moment, watching her face –searching for any kind of reaction.

He lowered his eyebrows in concern when he caught sight of the blood on her face again. He glanced around the room, seeing a sink against the wall and walked over to it.

He found a clean rag beside the sink and ran it under the warm water, before walking back over to her. He carefully wiped the dried blood from under her nose and any other place it had run down.

He lightly touched her cheek, before softly admitting, "Frankly, I'm worried about you too." He moved his hand up, touching the side of her head as he continued, "Whatever is happening in your mind right now, you need to fight it! You need to wake up, Avery."

"Your friends need you. They need you to fight, they need you to wake up." He paused, realizing there was someone else who needed her to wake up.

Someone else who couldn't stand the thought of losing her. "I-I need you to wake up." He quietly admitted.

He let out a sigh and dropped his head in defeat. He didn't know why her friends thought he would be able to wake her up. Maybe he should have just went with his original thought and called an ambulance for her.

With that thought in mind he grabbed her hands giving them a small rub before folding them across her chest. He turned around, reaching into his pants pocket to pull out his phone to make a call to someone who could actually help her.

Before he could pull his phone out, he heard a noise coming from behind him, he quickly spun around his eyes widening when he saw her take a deep breath.

"Avery?" Parrish questioned, as he walked back over to the table.

Avery slowly opened her eyes, staring in to a pair of green eyes. The eyes she saw when she was in Teagan's mind, the eyes that belonged to Jordan Parrish.

"Jordan?" Avery whispered.

"Yeah, I'm here." He said, as he flashed her a small smile.

Avery breathed out a small chuckle, as she softly said, "Deputy Parrish to my rescue."

"I have a feeling you don't need to be rescued often, Miss Dukate." Parrish said with a soft smile. "But I'm happy to be of service."

Her lip twitched, wanting to smile but she was too weak to do so. She rolled her head to the side, seeing his hand on the table, then reached out, laying her hand on his, as she whispered, "I'm happy you're here."

She rolled her head back, looking up at the ceiling as she quietly added, "Even if it is only a dream."

She had a hard time believing he would come to her aid. He was one of the nicest men she had ever met, but the last thing he needed to do was get tangled up in her mess. But if she was going to dream of someone, she was glad it was him.

As her eyelids fluttered shut, Deputy Parrish squeezed her hand, as he said, "It's not a dream, Avery. I'm really here."

"You can't be. You're too good for me." She said so low he couldn't hear.

"Just rest, Avery." Parrish said, as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, relieved to feel her skin was warming up. She was too cold earlier when he arrived. "Just rest… everything will be okay." He quietly added, as he leaned down. He paused for a moment, his forehead inches from hers before he finally rested his against her and blew out a breath, as he whispered, "You're okay."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you all for reading. We hope you liked the chapter, it was certainly an emotional one for us to write! As much as we love Teagan/Isaac and Avery/Parrish, the story is really about Teagan and Avery and their friendship… it's always so great to get a chance to show the lengths they'd go to for one another. ^_^**


	34. Hidden Message

**Chapter 34 - Hidden Message**

* * *

><p>"Hey guys." Allison greeted as she walked up to Teagan, Isaac and Avery who were all standing outside of Teagan's car in a parking lot they agreed to meet at.<p>

"You two…" Her voice trailed off as she looked between Avery and Teagan, who both still looked tired and weak from everything that had taken place.

"Look a lot better than they did last night." Isaac sighed as he looked between his friends.

"Any news on Lydia?" Teagan asked, trying to ignore the headache she still had from Avery getting into her mind.

"Her car was spotted here." Allison said as she handed a piece of paper to Isaac and said, "Hopefully you can pick up a scent there… or something. Maybe she even left some kind of clue."

"A clue?" Isaac asked with raised eyebrows, "She was being kidnapped be an ancient, evil spirit… you really think she was thinking clearly enough to leave us some kind of clue.

"If it was anyone else, no. But this is Lydia Martin… if anyone's going to be able to think clearly enough in a situation like that to leave a clue behind, it's her." Avery finally spoke up, her voice a little hoarse and the dark circles around her eyes clearly visible in the sun.

"She's right." Teagan nodded reaching over and squeezing her hand, thankful to not only have silence in her head from her mom being gone, but also thankful that Avery had pulled through. For a while it seemed touch and go when they couldn't wake her up, but somehow Deputy Parrish had been able to pull her back.

"So, I was thinking… you two." She said pointing between Teagan and Isaac, "Take the address and find her car."

"What do I need to do?" Avery questioned.

"You're with me." Allison said, "We have a few different places to check."

After telling them she'd brought some extra weapons in her car for Teagan to bring with her, Avery and Isaac went to get them as Teagan popped the trunk of her car to put them in.

"How are you feeling?" Allison asked her friend with a soft smile.

"Tired and sore… I feel like I've been ran over by a truck." Teagan admitted but then looked down for a moment with a smile as she said, "But it's nice, being the only one in my head again. I feel like… like I can finally breathe again."

Taking a deep breath of the cool air she let it out and said, "I feel free."

Allison beamed a smile at her and said, "I'm so glad it worked."

"Me too." She agreed looking over to where Avery and Isaac were talking next to Allison's car as she continued, "And so happy that we both made it through okay."

"I wish I would have known sooner, I would have been there." Allison assured her.

"It's okay, Isaac pulled me through it and we called someone for Avery… we survived, we won." Teagan answered as she looked around, feeling a little guilty for feeling so much better when Lydia was still missing and Stiles was possibly dying.

"What's wrong?" Allison asked, almost immediately picking up on her friend's fallen expression.

"I shouldn't be here smiling… or feeling good at all." She admitted, then explained, "Stiles is dying and we don't have any idea if Lydia is even still alive…"

"Hey…" Allison said as she stepped forward and hugged her, "Lydia's going to be fine, she's strong. And Stiles… we're all working on a way to save him. But you deserve to be happy, Teagan. You've have been going through hell for months, and it's finally over… don't feel bad for that."

Teagan smiled at her words and hugged her tighter as she said, "I just can't wait until this is all over, then we can all celebrate together."

Stepping back Allison smiled at seeing some of the light had returned to her eyes, as she said, "I'm so happy to have you back, and you're right. Once this is all said and done, we'll find some way to celebrate together… all of us."

The girls both let out a small laugh and looked up as Avery and Isaac were headed back towards them, with weapons in their hands.

After exchanging goodbyes and promises to call each other the moment they found something out, Teagan and Isaac left to find Lydia's car and Allison and Avery headed off in the other direction.

**~()~**

"Here we are." Isaac announced, as he parked the car near a locked fence. On the other side of the fence they could see a parked car in an abandoned parking lot.

He glanced over at Teagan from the corner of his eye, watching her open the passenger side door and slowly stand up. He knew she was still feeling weak from having Avery in her head the night before.

After sleeping for the rest of the night, she was looking better; she had more color in her face and had some of her strength back, but she still wasn't completely healed yet. If it were up to him, she would be home; resting but he knew she wouldn't do that. Not while Lydia was missing. She had to find her best friend.

Teagan walked up to the fence, seeing the chain keeping it closed. "It's locked." She stated.

She glanced over her shoulder to look at Isaac; who was walking up behind her. "I have a lock pick in my car-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Isaac grabbed the chain, pulling it as hard as he could until it snapped. He glanced over at Teagan with a smile on his face, causing her to chuckle.

"My man is a badass." Teagan teased, remembering all the times he had called her a badass.

Isaac laughed at her comment, as he opened the gate and waited for her to walk in before he walked in behind her. Getting back at the task at hand, Teagan's face grew serious as she walked closer to the car, that she quickly recognized as Lydia's.

"It's definitely her car." Teagan mumbled.

"The scent's strong of emotion." Isaac stated, as the scent hit him the closer they got to the car.

"Fear?" Teagan questioned, as she turned her head to look at him; the wind blowing her hair in her face.

Isaac came to a stop in front of her, pushing the hair from her face, as he shook his head, then said,"No, anger."

"That's Lydia." Teagan said with a small smile. She knew her best friend wouldn't go down without a fight.

Seeing the worried look on her face, he leaned forward; pressing his lips against her forehead, before stating, "We're going to find her, babe."

Teagan wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a chill she couldn't shake since Avery was in her head. "I just feel like every time we get close to winning, something comes and just rips the rug out from under us."

Isaac nodded his head, knowing what she meant. Every time they thought they were coming out on top, they were hit with something else, but no matter what, things were going to be okay. At least that is what he had to believe; they couldn't afford to lose anyone else.

"I know things seem bad..." Isaac began to say, as he laid his hands on either side of her face. "But we're going to get through this. We're going to find Lydia, we're going to save Stiles. We have already overcome so much. Look at what we have faced and beat already. " He softly smiled, as he continued, "Just last night we got you back. Avery saved you. I believe there is nothing we can't do, if we all stick together."

"It's you and me, remember?" He stated, causing her to smile and nod her head.

He gave her a quick kiss, before saying, "Now let's look for clues."

"Okay." Teagan said, with a smile, his pep talk building her up. He was right, they had overcome so much and she had no doubt now they would win this. Then they would all celebrate, just like she and Allison planned.

Isaac walked over to the driver side, laying on the ground to look under the car, as Teagan circled around the car, looking for anything that could give them a clue on where she could be. If anyone would leave a clue it would be Lydia.

As she made it to the driver side, where Isaac was laying, she paused, feeling a bit dizzy and laying her hand against the car to catch herself. Isaac quickly looked up, seeing the state she was in then jumped up from the ground.

"Teagan?" He questioned, as he stood in front of her. He saw her rub her forehead and sway on her feet for a moment, before raising her head to look at him. "Hey, babe, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just still a little weak." Teagan answered. "It's better than last night though."

Isaac shook his head, as he began to say, "I should have taken you-"

"No." Teagan interrupted, knowing what he was going to say. "I'm not going home. Not until we find Lydia."

Isaac blew out a breath, wishing she wasn't so stubborn but realizing that was one of the many things he loved about her. He reached out to open the driver side door, as he stated, "Come on. At least sit down for a bit. We can search inside the car."

Teagan nodded her head then sat down in the driver seat. Isaac shut the door, then ran around to the passenger side, sitting down beside her. The two glanced around the front of the car and looked in the back seat, neither one seeing anything.

Teagan glanced over at Isaac for a moment, before saying, "I haven't had a chance to ask how you are doing? When you were briefly possessed and all?"

"I'm okay, but I... I honestly don't know how you did it." He said.

"Did what?" Teagan asked confused.

"How you were able to stop your mom all those times." Isaac answered. Then continued, "Just the little bit I was possessed, I can't get control of myself. I wanted to so badly. I saw what I was doing and I knew it was wrong but I couldn't stop. I wanted to hurt the twins, I wanted to hurt Avery, I wanted to hurt you." He lowered his head, guilt overtaking him, as he added, "I could hear you trying to reach me, pleading with me but all I could think about was wanting to destroy you. I hate myself for it, for all it."

"I know what you mean." Teagan softly said, as she looked down at her hands. Remember all the bad thoughts she had of hurting him and the times that she did hurt him. She would never forget that.

"I'm sorry for all of that and for cuffing you to the bed by the way." He said, as he looked over at her. A small smile on his face, as he continued, "I promise next time we use cuffs it'll be for a good reason."

Teagan softly chuckled at his comment, then looked back down at her hands, playing with her fingers, as something crossed her mind. Something she wanted to talk to him about, but didn't know how to bring it up.

Isaac tilted his head, hearing her heart rate pick up, then asked, "What's wrong?" He knew her well enough to know something was bothering her. He saw her take a deep breath but still didn't look up at him or say a word. He reached out, grabbing her hands as he said, "Talk to me, babe."

"That night..." Teagan began to say, as she finally raised her head to look at him. "When we...you know, were you uh, were you..."

"Me?" He finished for her. When she nodded, he gave her a smile, as he said, "It was all me. I wouldn't have went there with you if it wasn't me."

"And um, what about afterwards? The things we said. Do you..."

"Do I remember?" Isaac questioned. Assuming that is what she was trying to ask.

Teagan nodded her head, as she said, "I know how it is to have someone else in your mind, and sometimes it's hard to remember what thoughts are your own or someone else's. So I guess... What I'm asking is... Do you remember? Do you uh, did you mean it?"

Isaac leaned across the seat, placing a hand on the side of her face, before pressing his lips against hers for a gentle kiss. He reached down, grabbing her hand to lightly rub his finger against hers, as he said, "One day, I'm going to put a ring on that."

"You do remember." Teagan whispered, with a smile on her face.

"I do." He softly said, as he caressing her cheek. "I remember it all. Every word and I meant every word too."

Teagan smiled at his words, then turned her head to look out the window when she heard the wind blowing outside. As her eyes landed on the glass, her smile fell; as a thought hit her.

She remembered Allison telling her one time about how she and Scott use to pass along messages by writing on the window. Allison had told all the girls about it, making her wondering if Lydia would have tried to leave a note that way. It was a long shot, but maybe there would be one.

Isaac was watching her, a loving smile on his face until he saw her face fall, causing him to ask her what's wrong.

Teagan turned her head to look at him for a moment, then looked back at the glass as she leaned closer to the window; blowing out a breath against the glass. Her eyes widen as words began to appear.

She looked over at Isaac again, before they both looked at the glass, both reading the words, 'DON'T FIND ME'. They both couldn't help but wonder who left the message; the obvious answer was Lydia, but why would she tell them not to look for her, making them wonder if it was the nogitsune who told her to leave it; warning them to stay away but she didn't care. She was going to save her friend no matter what.

**~()~**

After coming out of another building with no sign of Lydia or the nogitsune, Avery stopped with a heavy sigh next to the car.

"What is it?" Allison asked turning and facing her blonde friend.

"I know why we're checking all of these places. But I don't know… I can't help but feel like he's keeping her hidden right under our noses." Avery admitted with a frown, as she remembered being held captive in the bank all summer and then Deucalion keeping her and Scott at her mother's house. Every time it had been right under their friends' noses.

"Do you have any ideas?" Allison questioned, crumpling her hand written list up and tucking it in her jacket pocket.

Avery shook her head and looked up to the sky before she looked back to Allison with a defeated look, causing the brunette to frown. It had only been a few hours earlier that she'd seen the light back in Teagan's eyes.

But Avery's eyes told a different story, that she was beat down, weakened and that light was gone.

"What you did to help Teagan… it took a lot out of you, didn't it?" Allison realized, grabbing onto her friend's arm to stop her as she started to turn away from her.

"A lot more than you're letting on…" Allison continued.

With a sigh Avery slowly nodded and said, "I went into it, fully expecting to not wake up."

Allison's brown eyes widened as she gasped, "What?"

"It's Teagan, I had to do it… even if it killed me." Avery simply responded, but the numbness in her tone scared her friend.

Before she could respond, Avery looked back at her showing some emotion for the first time that day as she said, "Thank you, for everything you've done; for teaching and training us how to survive, Teagan and I are both alive because of everything you've taught us."

Allison's lips pressed into a thin line as Avery continued, "And for being one of the greatest friends I could ever ask for, I owe you so much."

"I don't like this…" Allison admitted, glancing around as she reasoned, "I feel like you're saying goodbye…"

With a small shrug she said, "I've just… I've had this feeling in the pit of my stomach since yesterday like something is going to happen. It's part of the reason I was so sure that saving Teagan was going to kill me, and I… I don't know, I just know it's not over yet.

Stepping forward Allison pulled her into a hug as she said, "You're right, it's not over… but you're talking like you've given up hope, and that's unacceptable."

Pulling back she held onto Avery's upper arms as she pointed out, "Once you've given up hope, you've already lost… and the Avery Dukate I know, would never back down from a fight or give up."

Avery nodded with a smile that didn't reach her eyes as she walked around the passenger side of her friend's car, thinking that she wasn't the same person she used to be.

**~()~**

After seeing the message on Lydia's car window, Teagan and Isaac left the car making their way back to Teagan's car, neither one knowing what they should do next until they got a text message from Avery; telling them to go to Scott's, she would explain more there.

Isaac parked the car behind Avery's on the street in front of Scott's house. Avery stepped out of the car when she saw them pull up, watching as the couple stepped out of the car.

While Teagan was getting a little better as the day went on, Avery seemed to look worst. She looked even paler than she did the night before, and the broken look was still in her eyes. She looked determined, like she did anytime she was trying to save a loved one but when it came to herself; she looked like she had given up.

"A..." Teagan began to say with a worried look on her face. It had not been that long since she and Isaac split up from Avery and Allison but it worried her to see how badly her best friend looked.

"Scott is on his way here with Meredith." Avery interrupted. She knew what Teagan was going to say, and frankly she knew they didn't have time to worry about her own problems. They needed to find Lydia and save Stiles, that is what was important.

"Who's Meredith?" Isaac questioned.

"A girl from Eichen House." Avery answered, then added, "They think she can help us somehow."

"How?" Teagan asked, confused.

Avery shrugged, as she said, "I don't know. Scott didn't say much when he texted me to come here."

"Someone is here." Isaac stated, as he looked over Avery's shoulders, seeing a car coming toward them and parking on the other side of the street.

"That's not Scott and Stiles." Teagan pointed out, as she looked over at the car.

"Then who-" Avery began to asked, as she turned to look at the car in question. When she saw who stepped out, she groaned, as she said, "Damn it, we do not need this right now."

"Is there a reason all of you are outside my house." Agent McCall questioned, as he approached the teenagers.

"Is it still technically your house when you don't live here?" Avery asked back, as she folded her arms across her chest and shot him a look. She never got along with authority figures much and she definitely didn't get along with Scott's father.

Rafe flashed her a tight smile, not letting the young girl bait him. "Regardless, my son and ex-wife live here and having teenagers standing around outside makes some of the neighbors a little uneasy. At least that is what the neighbor who called me said."

"Who said that?" Avery snapped, as she glanced around, wondering which of Scott's neighbors called Agent Dick on them.

"It doesn't matter." Rafe said, then asked, "Where's Scott?"

"He's on his way." Teagan answered, feeling Isaac take a step closer to her and placing a hand on her hip as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Maybe you all should come inside until he gets here." Rafe suggested, as he nodded his head toward the front door.

"Great, just great." Avery mumbled, only Teagan and Isaac hearing her.

Rafe took a few steps toward the porch, then turned to look at the group seeing that none of them had moved. Knowing he was waiting for them, Teagan nudged Avery forward, making her start walking first, then she began to walk behind her with Isaac beside her.

Avery glanced over her shoulders, shooting Teagan a look,then glanced back forward, coming to a quick stop when she noticed Rafe was still standing in the same spot. He gestured for her to go first, but she shook her head telling him to go first.

Rafe shook his head at the young blonde being stubborn as he began to walk toward the front door. He used the key he still had to open to door, then pushed it open for the three teens to walk inside.

Once inside, Teagan sat down on the arm of the couch with Isaac standing protectively behind her. Avery stood in the middle of the room, her arms folded across her chest as she glanced around the room, while Rafe stood on the other side of the room, silently watching the teenagers.

No one knew what to say; actually Avery had a lot she could say but was too drained to start anything with the older man.

After several, long, awkward minutes passed, Rafe cleared his throat, then asked, "Isn't today a school day?"

"Yeah, well, uh..." Teagan began to stutter, at the same time Isaac said, "No, we-we had a um, a day off."

Avery shook her head at her friends, then looked over at Rafe as she simply said, "We got out early and decided to meet here to study."

Rafe nodded his head, knowing none of them were being honest but he wasn't going to bust them on it. Honestly all he wanted to do was speak to Scott before it was too late.

As if on cue, the front door slammed open, as Scott, Stiles and Meredith rushed inside the house, causing the others to look over at them. Scott's mouth dropped open in surprise at seeing that his dad was there. He wasn't expecting him to be there and didn't have time to explain what they all were doing.

"What are you doing here?" Scott questioned his father.

"I could ask you the same thing." Rafe said back, wondering what excuse his son would give him.

"Free period. We're doing group study." Stiles answered back without having to think of an excuse.

"Hey! That's basically what I said." Avery called out.

Stiles looked over at her, pointing to his head with a wink as if to say they are on the same page.

Rafe shook his head at the teenagers, then looked over at the new girl standing in between Scott and Stiles. "Who's she?" He questioned.

"Oh, that is, uh..." Teagan tried to say, until Stiles spoke up.

"She's my girlfriend." He stated, as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You're not my type." Meredith said, as she shot Stiles a look.

Isaac lowered his head, resting his forehead on Teagan's shoulder as he chuckled at the comment. Teagan reached back to pat the back of his head, telling him to be nice.

"He's not that bad." Avery pointed out. "Stiles is one of the good ones." She continued honestly, remembering when they used to date.

"Aw." Stiles said, as he softly smiled at her. She was his first girlfriend, his first love and he would never forget her.

"He's my type." Meredith spoke up, causing everyone to look at her then look to see who she was staring at, which happened to be Isaac.

"Mine too." Teagan said, as she smiled at Meredith.

"He has nice eyes and a nice smile." Meredith said to Teagan, before looking over at Isaac again.

"He does. I love his blue eyes." Teagan said, as she turned to look at him. She lightly touched his face, as she added, "And I always tell him he has many smiles."

"I see that." Meredith said, then added, "He gives you all his smiles. You two are lucky."

"Thanks." Teagan said sincerely, as she laid a hand on the back of Isaac's neck playing with his hair.

Isaac looked at his girlfriend, then over at the new girl before looking at his girlfriend again as his mouth dropped open in surprise. He was not expecting Meredith's comment, and he definitely wasn't expecting them to go back and forth, as they talked about him.

"Well, obviously we have a lot to talk about." Stiles pointed out, still trying to play off the lie. "We should take this upstairs." He suggested, as he pointed over toward the stairs. When he saw Meredith staring at Isaac again, he added, "And Isaac can come too."

Stiles snapped his fingers, telling Isaac to follow them as he and Meredith began to walked across the floor. Isaac glanced around confused, wondering why he was getting roped into this but before he could say a word; Stiles pointed over at Teagan, as he added, "And T; since you and Meredith are apparently friends now, you should come too."

"Okay." Teagan mumbled, as she stood up and began to walk behind Stiles and Meredith, with Isaac walking along behind her.

"And Avery..." Stiles began to say, wanting her to follow along with them. He paused for a moment, letting the others walk past him, as he turned to see if she was coming. He heard Scott's father tell him they needed to talk then saw Avery stepped up to stand beside Scott, in case he needed back up. She had her arms folded across her chest, as she shot a look at Rafe.

"Avery!" Stiles hissed, getting her attention as he snapped his head to the side, telling her to come with him and leave Scott along to deal with his father. He rolled his eyes as she shook her head at him and looked back over at Rafe.

Scott glanced over at the blonde besides him, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze letting her know he was okay with out saying a word. He nodded his head over toward Stiles, telling her to go with them.

The two had a silent conversation with their eyes as she raised her eyebrows, as if she was asking if he was sure. He nodded his head, assuring her he was. She sighed, as she dropped her arms then walked past the older McCall, not taking her eyes off of him until he was out of her sight.

"What was that about?" Stiles hissed over at her, as the two made their way upstairs to join Teagan, Isaac and Meredith in Scott's bedroom.

"I don't trust him." Avery stated, referring to Scott's dad.

"You can silently judge people later, for now, we need to find Lydia." Stiles pointed out, trying to get her to focus on what was important right now.

"Trust me, I know how important that is. I-" Avery began to say, then quickly spun around when she heard a noise behind her and realized Stiles wasn't walking behind her anymore. She lowered her eyebrows in concern when she saw Stiles leaning against the wall, feeling a wave of dizziness.

"Stiles, are you okay?" Avery asked, as she rushed over to him.

"Yeah, I'm just- I still feel a little weak." Stiles admitted, as he shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment, hoping the dizzy spell went away soon.

"I know how that feels." Avery mumbled, as she glanced down for a moment. She honestly didn't know how she was standing up at the moment. All she really wanted to do was lay down and close her eyes for a couple of days, but knew she couldn't –not when they were in a middle of a war.

"I heard about what you did for Teagan." Stiles said, getting her attention. As she looked up at him, he continued, "It was a great thing to do but god, Avery, you can't keep doing things like this. You know the more you dip into that darkness, the more likely..." He paused for a moment, getting better control of his emotions. The thought of something happening to her, of losing her was too much.

He shook his head, as he continued, "There's a good chance you might not come back to us or worse."

"It's Teagan." Avery simply said. "I have to do it. She couldn't keep living like that, with her mother screaming at her to do unthinkable things."

"I get it, I do. I understand how it feels to have someone else in your head and I don't want that for Teagan but there had to be another way." He stated.

"There wasn't." Avery said back. "Getting into her mind was the only way and we were running out of time. I had to save her."

"And who's going to save you? You're too busy saving all of us, but who is saving you, Avery?" Stiles questioned, with a concerned look. Just one look at her, with her paler than normal skin and dead eyes, it was easy to see that she was about to drop at any moment.

"Stiles, you should know better than anyone, that I don't need saving." She said, as she flashed him a tight smile, hoping to ease his mind but the forced smile just made him worry even more.

"Avery.."

"Let's go find Lydia." Avery interrupted. "Then we'll fix you and everything will be okay. You all will be okay."

Stiles shook his head, noticing that she didn't include herself in that comment, which left him feeling very uneasy. As she turned to walk away, he reached out grabbing her arm to pull her toward him and wrapping his arms around her, giving her a big hug.

It had been a long time since she was in his arms. Things were a little weird between them ever since they broke up then got worst while they were in Eichen House. He remembered everything he did to her while he was possessed and he knew things were different between them now, he also knew she might kick his ass for holding her like this after everything but he felt like the hug was something they both needed at the moment. He ran a hand up and down her back, as he softly said, "You're going to be okay too, Avery."

Avery squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push aside everything… trying to remind herself this was Stiles again, not the nogitsune. She thought about the comment he just made, wishing she could believe his words, but she honestly felt like she would never be okay again. She blew out a breath, as she opened her eyes and saw the faceless version of herself standing down the hall, bringing her back to the present and made her realize, no matter what, she couldn't escape her fate; whatever that may be.

She quickly pulled back, giving Stiles a small smile, then nodded her head toward the bedroom door telling him they needed to get back to the task at hand.

The two walked into the bedroom seeing Meredith sitting on the bed, as Teagan and Isaac were standing off to the side; quietly talking to each other.

"Hey, has she told you where Lydia is?" Avery asked, as she walked up to the couple.

"No, she hasn't told us anything." Isaac answered.

"All she says is we need to wait." Teagan added, as she turned around to look at Avery and Stiles. She felt Isaac lay his hands on her sides, as he stepped up to stand behind her.

"Wait for what?" Stiles questioned, causing the two to shrug, neither one having an answer for him.

"We don't have time to wait." Avery mumbled.

She grabbed Stiles arm as she turned around to face Meredith; forcing him to turn around and stand beside her. Teagan walked across the room to stand on Avery's other side, with Isaac standing behind her. She wrapped her arms around herself still feeling a slight chill ever since she woke up.

"Okay, Meredith..." Stiles began to say, as he clapped his hands.

Before he could say anything else, her gaze landed on Avery as she spoke up and said, "I know you."

"Yeah, you just saw me downstairs." Avery pointed out.

"No, you were there." Meredith stated.

"Where?" Avery asked confused.

"Eichen House." Meredith answered.

Avery shifted uncomfortably at her words. Neither time she was at that place was pleasant and she wished she could forget it, but unfortunately she couldn't. She glanced over at Stiles for a moment, seeing a guilty look on his face and knew he was thinking about when they were there.

She lowered her eyebrows in confusion as she remembered that she never spoke to Meredith while she was in there. She never even met the girl until now.

"Wait, we didn't talk at Eichen house while we were there." Avery stated, as she gestured to herself and Stiles.

"No… I mean, before." Meredith said, referring to the first time Avery was there after her suicide attempt. "There was darkness around you." She whispered, almost like she was afraid the darkness would overheard her. "You were sad, but then you went away and got better." She added, as she gave Avery a small smile.

Everyone turned to look at Avery, until Stiles cleared his throat and said, "Meredith we need your help with our friend."

Meredith looked back over at Avery, as she shook her head and stated, "I can't help her. There is too much darkness now. The darkness is back in her."

"No, we need your help with Lydia." Avery spoke up, ignoring her comment. She folded her arms across her chest, breaking the eye contact with Meredith not liking the way she was watching her.

"Whoa, wait, what do you mean though? Is Avery okay?" Teagan spoke up, as she laid a hand on Avery's shoulder feeling concerned for her.

"I'm fine, but Lydia isn't" Avery pointed out, as she looked over at Teagan. There was still hope in saving Lydia.

"Lydia, the redhead." Meredith said, realizing who they were talking about.

"Yes! Yes! Good. Progress." Stiles said, as he clapped his hands, happy that Meredith knew who Lydia was now. Earlier when he and Scott asked her, she had no idea what they were talking about. "Now, all you got to do is tell us where she is."

"Okay. Okay." Meredith said. "If she tells me." She added, confusing the group in front of her.

"If-if she tells you?" Teagan questioned. "What does that mean?" She added, as she glanced over at Stiles and Avery, who shrugged. She glanced over her shoulders at Isaac, then nodded toward Meredith, telling him to ask, hoping she would answer him.

Isaac nodded his head, then cleared his throat, as he looked over at Meredith and asked, "Can you uh, can you ask her?"

"I already did." Meredith said smiling, happy that she could help him.

"Perfect. Perfect. What did she say?" Stiles asked with a hopeful smile.

"She said she doesn't want to be found." Meredith said, relaying the message.

"What?" Teagan breathed out confused. She glanced behind her to look at Isaac both thinking about the message from Lydia's car.

"This is taking way too long." Avery said with a sigh, as she rested her hands on top of her head trying to keep her anger in check.

"Okay, we need another plan." Stiles quietly said to his friends. He looked back at Meredith, telling her to stay put then nodded off to the side, telling his friends to join him.

"Hey..." Teagan softly said, as she reached out to grabbed Avery's arm, stopping her from joining Stiles and Isaac. "Are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that. I keep seeing you shivering from the corner of my eye." Avery pointed out.

"It's just this chill. I can't get rid of it. Guess it's a side effect of having you poking around in my brain." Teagan said with a small chuckle, trying to make light of the situation. "But you are the one I am worried about. Avery, you're looking worse and worse every minute." She added with a concern look.

"Like you said, side effect from poking around in your brain." Avery said, repeating her words.

"Avery..."

"You all need to stop worrying about me. Lydia is the one we need to be helping." Avery interrupted. Without another word, she walked away, walking toward Stiles and Isaac; who were quietly talking to each other.

"I'm just saying." Isaac whispered.

"Just saying what?" Teagan asked confused, as she and Avery walked up in the middle of their conversation.

"Isaac, we're not going to torture her." Stiles argued, ignoring Teagan's question.

"What? Isaac!" Teagan stated, as she looked over at her boyfriend in shock. She couldn't believe he would suggest something like that.

"Wha-no!" Isaac said, as he shook his head. He reached out, wrapping an arm around her waist, as he explained himself. "I meant scare her."

"We're not going to psychologically torture her either." Stiles pointed out.

"Fine." Isaac stated, as he rolled his eyes, giving up on the idea.

"Wait a minute..." Avery began to say, a thought coming to her. She looked over at Stiles, as she continued, "You said she hears things, right?"

"Wait, she's a Banshee?" Teagan asked, this was the first she heard of this.

"Yeah, yeah." Stiles said, getting excited as he realized what Avery was suggesting.

Without another word to the rest he walked back over to Meredith, kneeling down in front of her as the others walked over to join. The two girls stood behind Stiles, as Isaac stood off to the side, leaning forward to look between Stiles and Meredith.

"Okay, just try to focus on the sounds around you." Stiles suggested, as he spoke to Meredith.

"On what you're hearing." Isaac added.

"Just focus on the silence." Stiles continued.

"Listen to the silence." Isaac said.

"Focusing on the silence." Stiles corrected.

"Listening to the..."

"Okay, will you just let me handle this, Isaac." Stiles interrupted, as he looked over at him. "Please? I just... I have more experience with Banshees." He added.

"Yeah. And mental patients." Isaac added, earning him a slap across the back of his head from Avery. "Ouch!" He hissed, as he rubbed his head and turned to look at the blonde.

"That's enough out of you." Avery said to Isaac. She stepped forward, hitting Stiles' shoulder, as she added, "Both of you." She grabbed Stiles' shirt, pulling him up as she continued, "Now move, let us try."

Teagan nodded her head, as she stepped forward, standing beside Avery, as both girls kneeled down to look at Meredith. They both flashed her a friendly smile, hoping they could get through to her.

"Meredith, I don't know how the whole Banshee-thing works, and I know we're asking a lot out of you, but we really need your help. We need to find our friend." Teagan softly said.

"I want to help." Meredith said back honestly.

"Good, so will you tell us where Lydia is?" Avery asked. "Just one little clue. That is all we're asking."

Meredith was quiet for a moment, making them all think she was speaking to someone, anyone that could tell them something, but instead, all she said was, "Isn't anyone going to get that?"

"Get what?" Stiles asked confused, as he leaned over the girls shoulder's to speak to Meredith.

"The phone." Meredith answered.

"What phone?" Teagan asked.

"The phone!" Avery stated, realizing what she meant. She turned around to look at Stiles, slapping his arm, as she added, "Give her the phone."

"What?" Stiles breathed out, until he understand what she was saying. "Oh! The phone. My phone." He said, he looked over at Meredith, seeing her nod her head. He dug into his pants pocket, pulling his phone out as he pretended to answer it.

"Hello. Yes, she's actually sitting right here." Stiles said, as he talked into the phone. He held it out toward Meredith, as he said, "It's for you."

Avery took the phone from his hand then passed it along to Meredith. They all stood still with bated breath, as they watched to see what would happen next. They saw Meredith placed the phone against her ear as if she was actually hearing someone on the other end.

She pulled it back, looking at the group, as she said, "They say Coup de foudre."

"Coup de what? What is that Spanish?" Stiles questioned, as Isaac shrugged.

"It's French." Teagan stated.

"What does it mean?" Isaac asked his girlfriend.

"It means love at first sight..." Teagan began to say, then added, "Or the literal translation is 'bolt of lightning'."

"I know where she is."

They heard someone say from behind them. They all turned, seeing Scott standing in the door way. A small smile on his face as he again said, "I know where Lydia is."

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- We're getting so close to the end of this story! ^_^ The Dark Blue Moon will come to an end with chapter 41. Thank you for reading the chapter, we hope you all enjoyed it.**


	35. In The Arms Of My First Love

**Chapter 35 - In The Arms Of My First Love**

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><p>Several minutes later, Teagan and Isaac were standing by her car, watching as someone from Eichen House showed up to take Meredith back. Once she was gone; leaving the couple alone, Isaac stepped closer to her, brushing a lock of hair from her face as he looked at her closely.<p>

"Are you up for this?" He questioned, wanting to make sure she was okay, but already knew what her answer would be.

"To save my best friend?" Teagan asked, then said, "Yeah, I am. It's Lydia. I have to be there."

"I'm just worried about you." Isaac admitted, as he laid his hands on either side of her face.

"I know, and I love for that but I'm okay." Teagan said, as she wrapped her arms around his middle. "Like you said earlier, we have already overcome so much. We have faced a lot and won, this won't be any different." She added, reminding him of his earlier comment.

Isaac softly smiled at her words, as he nodded his head; agreeing with her. He pulled her toward him, kissing her forehead, then folded his arms around her, holding her closely against him.

The two held each other for a while, drawing strength from each other, until he felt her shivering in his arms. He pulled back to look at her. It wasn't the first time he saw her shivering since Avery got in her head.

"You cold?" He questioned.

"Yeah, a little." Teagan admitted.

"You want my jacket?" He offered, as he began to shrug it off.

"No, it's okay." Teagan said, stopping him. "I have a coat in my car." She ran a hand through her hair, a thought crossed her mind, as she added, "Sadly, one thing I don't have a lot of in my car, is weapons."

Overhearing her last comment, Avery spoke up, "I talked to Allison. She's going to meet us there and she's bringing extra weapons."

"Good." Teagan said, as she nodded her head.

"Are we ready to go?" Isaac questioned, as he looked over the girls shoulders; watching Scott and Stiles walk over to the Jeep.

"Yeah." Avery answered with a nod. When she saw Isaac reach out to open the car door, she spoke up; stopping him. "Actually, Isaac, would you ride with Scott and Stiles?"

"What, why?" Isaac asked, confused.

"I need to talk to T." Avery answered, as she glanced over at her best friend; who was just as confused as her boyfriend.

Seeing how serious Avery looked, Isaac sighed, as he nodded his head. He hated to leave his girlfriend, but he always knew it was best not to get in the middle of whatever the two best friends needed to talk about.

He turned to face his girlfriend, cupping her cheek before leaning forward to softly kiss her lips; wishing he didn't have to stop. They had no idea what they were going to walk into, and after almost losing her a few times in the past, he couldn't help but feel nervous; worried this would be one of the last times he got to kiss her or got to show her exactly how he felt.

He pulled back a little to look at her, his finger tips grazing her cheek, as he whispered, "It's you and me, babe. Always."

"Always." Teagan whispered back. She grabbed either side of his jacket, almost as if she was scared to let him go. With a sigh, she raised on her tip toes as she leaned forward, resting her forehead against his with her eyes close; their faces inches from each other.

"I love you, Isaac Lahey." She whispered. She pulled back to look at her, a smile on her lips as she softly continued, "The love of my life, my safety bubble, my calm in the middle of a storm."

Isaac smiled at her words, before leaning forward to give her a gentle kiss. He didn't have to say it back, she knew how he felt, she knew he felt the same as she did, but she still smiled, as he mumbled out a 'I love you' against her lips.

He gave her one more quick kiss, before he turned to walk away. He gave Avery a short nod, as he went to walk past her until she called out his name, bring him to a stop.

Avery stepped forward, giving him a hug before whispering in his ear, "No matter what happens, take care of Teagan. Take care of my best friend, okay?"

"I will." Isaac stated, as he stepped back to look at her. "We both will. Cause we are both going to be in her life for a very, very long time." He added.

Avery nodded her head, giving him a small smile. She loved how no matter what, he stayed positive, he never gave up, which was exactly what Teagan needed. He was her perfect match, she knew no one was better suited for her best friend.

Isaac smiled at her as he laid a hand on her shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze. He glanced over her shoulder, looking at his girlfriend one last time before he turned and walked over to the Jeep.

The two girls stood still, watching as the three boys got inside the vehicle and then pulled away. Once they were alone, Teagan glanced over at her best friend a concerned look on her face; the blonde looked even more drained than before.

"So who's car are we talking?" Teagan asked, even though she already knew the answer. She knew Avery wouldn't leave her car behind.

"Let's take yours." Avery said, as she walked over to the passenger side door of Teagan's car; causing the other girl's mouth to drop open in surprise.

Normally Avery wouldn't leave her car behind, but she was too tired to get behind the wheel and she knew her car would be safe at Scott's. She knew he, as well as her other friends, would take good care of it.

Many minutes later, Teagan drove silently down the road, waiting for Avery to speak up but the other girl stayed quiet, as she laid her head back and closed her eyes for a moment trying to gather up enough strength to do what they were about to do; whatever that might be.

Teagan glanced over at her friend, then looked back at the road as she shook her head in concern. She let out a sigh, then said, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just take you home."

"It's Lydia." Avery simply stated.

"I get it, A, I do, but-"

"Then you know why I have to do this." Avery said. She shook her head, as she softly said, "This is all my fault."

"Not everything is your fault, Avery." Teagan said. "Matter of fact, none of this is your fault."

Avery shook her head, she wished she could believe that, but she couldn't. If it wasn't for her mother, her friend's parents never would have been taken, her friends never would have had to be sacrifices, the nemeton never would have been giving power and the nogitsune would have never gotten into Stiles. No matter how you looked at it, it always went back to her mother.

"But either way, that is not what I wanted to talk to you about." Avery said, as she glanced over at her best friend.

"What did you want to talk about then?" Teagan questioned, as she glanced at her for a moment before looking back at the road.

"You remember the play, right?" Avery said, referring to the play when they were in 4th grade. The one they were supposed to be butterflies in, but Avery got in trouble, leaving Teagan to go on without her but she couldn't go on without her best friend.

"Yeah..." Teagan slowly said, unsure why she was bringing that up and had a very bad feeling. The last time Avery brought up the play was the night Kate almost killed her. She reminded Teagan of what she said the night of the play, that she was stronger than she knew and even if she wasn't beside her, she would always be with her.

"No matter what happens, I need you to remember what I told you back then, what I have always told you." Avery said.

"I'll never forget it. I got a permanent reminder of it on my hip." Teagan said, referring to the butterfly tattoo she got in memory of that moment. "Plus no matter what, you'll be here to remind me. You're not going anywhere, A."

"But if something happens-"

"It won't." Teagan interrupted, as she shook her head. She refused to believe anything bad would happen. She had to believe all of them were walking out of that place alive.

"Teagan, please, just listen to me." Avery said, pleading with her best friend. "No matter what happens, I want you to know I'm proud of us, we have overcome a lot and I love you, Teagan. We might not be blood, but I have always looked at you as a sister and nothing will ever change that."

"Avery..." Teagan began to say, as she shook her head, not liking where this conversation was going.

"Just remember, okay?" Avery asked, as she looked over at her. Needing her to agree, she needed her to know how much her friendship had meant to her all these years.

"Okay." Teagan softly said. She glanced over at her for a second, before looking back at the road, as she said,"But only if you agree that you are walking with me out of that place. We are leaving together, A, okay?"

When Avery didn't answer, she looked over at her again, as she called out, "Okay?"

"Of course." Avery said, as she flashed her a small smile, hoping this was a promise she could keep.

Hoping to distract her, Avery reached out grabbed one of her hands as she whispered, "Firefly, firefly, don't go away..."

Teagan softly smiled as she latched on to Avery's hand, before whispering back,"Butterfly, butterfly, why don't you stay?"

Avery blew out a breath, as she pulled her hand away then folded them in her lap. She looked straight ahead, feeling the darkness settling around her. She couldn't shake the bad feeling that something was going to happen. Something that would change everything.

**~()~**

"Thanks." Avery said with a small smile as Allison handed her a sword then grabbed another from her trunk and passed it over to Teagan who nodded in thanks and let out a heavy breath as she saw Isaac getting out of Stiles' jeep.

He hadn't been happy about not riding there with Teagan, but Avery had told asked him to ride with the guys so she could talk alone with her best friend.

Slowly, the group descended on the old, broken, rusted gates where the Oak Creek internment camp had been. The night seemed darker than usual, the air had a bitter chill that sank right through the clothes, and Avery closed her eyes for a few seconds –thinking the night felt the same way it did before the oni ambushed her, the same coldness as the night when Kate tried to kill her.

The night felt like death; as she looked around the group she saw it felt the same way to her friends too, each of them had –had their own near death experiences and she knew that cold, bitter and lonely feeling was something they'd all been through before.

Scott looked over to Avery who's eyes were surrounded by dark circles, he thought she was still weakened from shutting the door in Teagan's head and from the fight with Lisa. But Avery was now being haunted by the faceless version of herself every time she caught a glimpse of her reflection in anything.

Reach over next to him he gave her hand a small, comforting squeeze as he said, "We've done this before, guys… and we saved Malia, remember?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"That was a total stranger." He reasoned, "This is Lydia… she's one of us."

"I came here to save my best friend." Allison spoke up looking around the group with a hopeful expression.

Scott looked over to Stiles, who appeared to be growing weaker by the second as he said, "I came to save mine."

Avery looked around her group of friends and thought to herself that she was there in a last ditch effort to try and not only save her friends, but to somehow right the wrong her mom had made. In her eyes the entire thing was her fault, and no matter how many nightmares she had or how much the darkness inside of her grew, she couldn't back down from this fight; not after they'd all came so far. She'd been able to fix Teagan, now she just needed to make sure Lydia was safe and save Stiles' life.

"Scott's right." Teagan said when no one else spoke up, "We can do this… we've already accomplished so much."

Scott smiled at her and nodded in thanks for her backing him with a vote of confidence, but Isaac broke the moment as he shrugged and said, "I just didn't feel like doing any homework."

Teagan couldn't help but crack a smile at his words. Somehow, he always found a way to make an awkward comment to the group, but it was one of his traits of the endless list of things about him that she loved and would never want to change.

Everyone started to walk through the gates and Teagan turned to her boyfriend; seeing the look of concern and fear in his blue eyes as he stared back at her.

Reaching down he grabbed onto her hand and nodded, seeing the same look in her eyes. Neither of them knew what they were walking into or what obstacles lied ahead. But in a moment of complete silence they both knew exactly what the other was thinking.

Feeling like he still needed to tell her to be careful, he started to open his mouth but she cut him off with a small smile as she said, "I know."

He nodded his grip tightening on her hand as they turned and followed behind the group towards a large, crumbling building. But the entire group was brought to a stop when Kira's mother, Noshiko stood with an oni on either side blocking their way.

"Kira, turn around and go home." She ordered her daughter, "Take your friends with you."

Allison pulled an arrow from the pouch on her back and loaded it into her bow, preparing for a fight she was sure was going to happen as she nodded for Scott to go on and head inside of the building to find Lydia, Stiles followed right behind his best friend as the rest of the group faced off against Noshiko.

"I can't." Kira exclaimed, "When I looked at the game, I realized who I was actually playing… you."

Drawing her arrow back in the bow, Allison ordered, "Call them off."

"You think you could take him alive?" Kira's mother questioned about the nogitsune, thinking the teenagers were in way over their heads.

When the group held their stance, ready to fight she continued, "You think you can save him?"

"Don't patronize us, we're here trying to save our friend's life." Avery snapped, shaking her head back and forth.

Teagan glanced over to where Isaac was beside her, then her attention was drawn back to Noshiko as she warned, "I tried something like it 70 years ago. Your friend is gone."

"Are you sure? Or if Stiles doesn't have to die, then maybe Rhys didn't have to die either…" Kira pointed out, recalling the events of the story from her mom's past that had brought the nogitsune out to begin with many years ago.

As the teenager took several steps forward, the oni behind her mother drew their swords and took a fighting stance as Noshiko said with a coy smile, "I see I am no longer the fox now, Kira. You are. But the nogitsune is still my demon to bury."

With her words the oni dissipated into thin air, causing the group to look around, checking al of their surroundings.

"Where did you send them?" Teagan demanded to know as she took a step forward, but Noshiko let out a small gasp as she stepped back from the group with a shocked expression on her face. Holding out her hand, she slowly opened her fingers revealing a dying firefly in her palm, which soon turned to black smoke.

"What the hell was that?" Isaac asked, walking up beside Teagan as every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He didn't understand what was happening, but knew whatever had just happened was a complete game changer.

"It means there's been a change in ownership." A voice rang out from behind the teens, causing them all to spin around and see the nogitsune with the five oni who'd been sent to kill him, standing behind him.

He smirked a with a sinister expression, and the oni all drew their swords, but Avery didn't see them, her gaze was locked with the nogitsune as his eyes landed on hers and she remembered the two times he'd feed from her pain, tortured her with memories she'd buried down.

From beside her Kira drew her katana, and expertly blocked a hit from an iron sword as the group of oni descended on the friends, but Avery didn't even realize what was happening, she was frozen as the nogitsune continued to stare her down from where he stood a safe distance away from the fight, the only sound she could hear was her labored breathing from fear.

But the silence of the moment was soon broken for her, when she was knocked off her feet and landed to the broken pavement with a painful thud. Her now alert gaze snapped up to see Teagan's sword sparking against the oni's blade as the brunette yelled out for her friend again, "Avery! Focus!"

When she saw Isaac rush to Teagan's side, delivering a powerful kick to the masked enemy, she realized it had been her best friend who'd knocked her out of harm's way.

"Avery!"

Turning around she saw Allison yelling for her as she fired an arrow at the oni that Kira was facing off with. "Get up!" Allison shouted, as the blonde continued to sit stunned on the ground.

Blinking a few times she scrambled to pick up the sword that had been knocked from her hands when she'd fell to the ground, but just as she started to pick it up a heavy black boot landed on the blade and she snapped her gaze up to see one of the demons with it's sword raised, ready to end her in one swift movement.

Quickly she flung her body to the side, away from the masked figure as she scrambled to her feet and pulled out the nunchuks from her jacket pocket and swung them around, before using the tough chain between them to block an incoming hit from a sword.

Teagan spun around, kicking the oni down in front of her just in time to see one slice Isaac across the back as he was trying to fight off another on. As he let out a howl of pain, she raced for the oni who'd attacked him as she put her sword through it's thick dark clothing.

But her face twisted with confusion when it seemed the blade hadn't cut through anything but the clothing. Whenever she'd kicked one, or got it seemed almost like there was a person under that mask; but as she pulled her sword from it's back and black smoke seeped through the sliced coat she was reminded that they were nothing but darkness under that mask, and under those clothes.

No wonder the bullets flew through them with no problem and her sword hadn't injured the one in front of her, her forehead lined with confusion and she thought they were truly fighting a losing battle.

The one she'd stabbed spun around and swung a heavy arm, knocking her several steps backwards where she looked up just in time to see Isaac's face fully shift as he charged the oni and knocked it down, pinning it with his werewolf strength as he snarled and snapped at it's mask.

Teagan tried to keep her eyes on her friends, make sure that they were all okay but it was impossible as she now had 2 of their enemies closing in on her. Backing away from them, she swung her blade slicing through the fabric of their clothing, before jumping and spinning as she kicked a leg out knocking one to the ground. As she landed she ducked and narrowly avoided a possibly fatal blow, before ramming her sword into the one still standing and bracing herself against the handle as she raised her leg and let out a determined groan as she kicked it backwards with all of her might.

She looked over to see Isaac grab one of them by their coats and throw them against the building, old bricks chipped and broke away upon the impact.

Feeling her eyes on him, he looked back in her direction their eyes locking from a distance through the fighting still happening, and he gave her a small nod, letting her know he was okay.

Taking a deep breath and letting the fact that he was okay, calm her down some she headed towards where Allison was backed against the building with one of the demons closing in on her. Rushing to her aid, she pulled the oni backwards and raised her sword as it's blade sparked against her own.

Her dark brown eyes traced the fighting around her, seeing Isaac fighting 2 more of them as Avery and Kira were teamed up against another one.

"This is impossible!" Avery screamed out as she swung the nunchuks with such force she thought for sure it would crack or possibly shatter the mask of the oni, but it didn't even scratch it.

"They're not going down!" Teagan yelled back, her sentence ending with a pained yell as the oni swung it's sword and it collided harshly with hers, the impact jerked her shoulder to the side and she felt a sharp pain from her bones and joints being stressed.

Pushing back through the pain, Teagan put all of her might into pushing up on the blade and forcing the oni's sword off of her own, long enough to kick it backwards but it spun up from the ground and reappeared right in front of her.

"How do we stop them?" Isaac yelled, backing away from the pair of demons who he felt like he'd been fighting for years.

"You can't!" Noshiko yelled back at him.

After being knocked to the ground again, Teagan looked up fearfully as the oni who'd focused on her closed in, but just as it swung it's sword down towards her, it blocked, as Allison jumped in front of her –using the wide, strong wooden from of her bow to deflect the hit, before she pushed it backwards with all of her might.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she quickly located her sword and looked up to see Allison with an extended hand. Once she was on her feet the friend's exchanged looks, a silent thank you from Teagan and a small smile from Allison before she turned and loaded another arrow into her bow and moved away firing at the oni who were going against Isaac, but they managed to slice through her arrow in midair.

With a grunt, Teagan kicked her target back away from her again, but her leg was so sore she could barely stand on it when she lowered it back to the ground. "This is impossible…" she muttered under her breath, repeating Avery's words as she saw an oni knock Kira to the ground and Avery block it's sword with the chain again.

But she could tell from her best friends posture and fighting stance that she was also getting pushed to her limits, they all were; even Isaac who had werewolf strength and agility. She'd fight till the end, they all would, there was no doubt about that. But she couldn't help but wonder if the end was getting closer than they'd all thought.

Avery let out a frustrated scream as she was knocked to the ground yet again in the fight, no matter how strong she was or how hard she fought back, the demons were stronger and faster. Looking around she saw her fallen sword laying a few feet away on the ground, making sure Kira was holding her own –she then took off in a scrambled crawl towards it.

Grabbing onto the handle she started to raise it but caught the reflection of herself it's metallic surface. Just like in the mirrors now, she was faceless, her mirror image was blonde hair surrounding a blur of pale flesh where her facial features should be.

She was ripped from her thoughts with a mist of red splattered across the blade, and she could feel something warm on her arm. Looking down, Avery saw her skin was also covered in crimson speckles.

Her forehead lined with confused as she jumped to her feet, wondering where she was injured, but out of the corner of her eye she saw an oni swipe a blade across Isaac's already badly bleeding midsection and she realized it wasn't her blood; it was his.

"Isaac!" She shrieked, trying to get him to him but her path was blocked by another masked figure. Logically she knew there were only five of them, but it felt like the group was surrounded by masked shadows.

No matter which way you turned you were staring darkness in the face, there was no escape and try as she might, she couldn't fight past the oni to come to her friends rescue.

Hearing Avery shouting Isaac's name, Teagan looked over her heart already sinking into her stomach before her eyes landed on the gruesome sight of their iron swords ripping into her boyfriend's flesh again and again. His blood spraying from every slice they made.

Tears immediately poured down her cheeks and she tried to dart past her target, to go to her boyfriends rescue, but she couldn't get past it. Screaming out for him, she yelled as her sword clinked against the oni's blade time and time again, trying desperately to buy herself a few seconds to escape past it.

All of her friends were yelling and grunting, fighting with their last bit of strength. All of them desperately trying to find the power to keep going even though they were exhausted and all injured in some way. Sounds of metal chinking and sparking, along with Isaac's howls of pain filled the air, but for Teagan the entire scene was dead silent as her eyes briefly moved past the horrific scene of Isaac being killed, to where the nogitsune was watching them, crouched down next to some rubble with a twisted smile on his face. This is exactly what he wanted; chaos, pain and strife, everything they were going through in that moment was only making the enemy stronger.

Her eyes fell back to Isaac who was now on his knees, weakened and entirely vulnerable, bleeding profusely from his various wounds. And somehow she found the strength to keep going, even though every muscle in her body ached worse than ever before she knew they couldn't give up, she couldn't give up… not on him.

Teagan looked back to the oni in front of her, her eyes narrowed and her teeth gritted in rage, as she looked down to where their swords were touching. With a noise similar to a growl, she pushed back with everything that was in her and the masked demon took a stumbling step backwards, giving Teagan the out she needed.

But before she could take a step an arrow raced past her and she watched as it hit the oni who was only seconds away from killing Isaac, square in it's chest. The fight fell silent for her again, the only noise she heard was the metal sound of it's sword falling to the ground as it tried to get the arrowhead out.

As a bright light emitted from the masked figures chest, Teagan glanced over her shoulder for a second, seeing a proud smile fall over her friend's lips as she slowly lowered her bow.

Looking back to where Isaac was she saw the oni in front of him burst into black dust, which sprayed all over the pavement.

Knocking her target to the ground, Avery looked up in shock her gaze falling on Allison who now held her bow down to her side as she looked back at Avery with a smile on her face, she'd done it. She'd managed to kill an oni.

But the smile quickly fell from her lips as her face twisted into an expression of pain and confusion, as she slowly broke her eye contact with Avery and looked in front of her.

The blonde heard Teagan let out a blood curdling scream, but it didn't fully occur to her what was happening until she looked down to see an oni withdrawing it's sword from Allison's body and Avery immediately knew there was no way her friend could survive the wound.

Isaac sat with his jacket pulled over himself, some blood running from his mouth as he also realized what had happened and stared in shock as the bow fell from Allison's hands to the ground beside her, and she took a feeble step backwards.

Avery dropped the sword in her hand with a numb expression on her face, in that moment wishing the oni she'd been fighting would put a sword through her too. But even the demons were still in the moments when Scott rushed through a gate and caught Allison in his arms, before lowering them both to the pavement.

Teagan pinned her eyes shut and her body sank to the ground as she realized they weren't all going to survive the fight; that the celebration she and Allison had talked about would never happen. As her eyes weakly fluttered open she saw Kira rush past her and into her mom's arms, as they stood off to the side watching with tears in their eyes as Scott held Allison's in his arms.

No one saw the nogitsune leave, or were even aware of the fact that the oni had also disappeared from around them. All they saw was their friend as she lay bleeding out and dying, trying cling to her last few moments of life as Scott held her close to him calling out his first loves name several times in a frantic tone.

"Is she okay? Is Lydia safe?" Allison weakly asked, knowing she was slipping away, but her first concern was still protecting and saving the people she cared about.

Gently brushing the hair from her face, he trailed a hand down her cheek as he hoarsely stuttered out, "She's okay, yeah." Looking over her body, he grabbed onto the wrist of the hand she was clutching onto her wound with as he tried to take the pain from her, do anything to soothe her, but he couldn't.

"I… I can't take your pain away." Scott admitted, as he looked down to see her weakly staring up at him.

"It's because it doesn't hurt…" She admitted in a whisper.

"No…" He quietly cried out as she nodded her head and tears ran into her hairline from the outer corner of her eyes, knowing she'd be leaving him –that she'd be leaving all of her friends behind

"It's okay." She stuttered out, seeing the look of complete devastation on Scott's face.

"Allison…" He whispered, taking in deep shuttering breaths that shook both of them as his face contorted in pain and tears left glistening lines down his cheeks. The thought of losing her was unbearable.

"It's okay…" She weakly assured him, some blood making it's way into her mouth as she continued, "It's perfect. I'm in the arms of my first love… the first person I ever loved. The person I'll always love."

Scott cried as he smoothed her hair down, unsure of what to do or say. There wasn't anything that could make the moment easier on either one of them, as tears poured from both sets of eyes. Even though the thought of living in a world without Allison Argent in it seemed impossible, he knew these would be their final moments together.

And so did she, as she looked into his eyes and said, "I love you…" With a raspy, distressed breath some blood spilled out onto her bottom lip and she weakly raised a hand to tough his face one last time as she continued, "Scott McCall."

"No, no. Please… don't." Scott pleaded for her to stay with him, but he could feel her growing weaker by the second. There was so much he wanted to say to her, tell her that he still loved her and he always would. Thank for her everything she'd done, let her know all of the joy and happiness she'd brought him, let her know that he'd never forgot her. But all he could say in between his agonized sobs was, "No… Allison, don't… please!"

Taking in a gurgling breath her eyes widened and she started to say, "You have to tell my dad… and you have to tell my dad, tell him…" She nodded her head frantically, stuttering out noises that couldn't quite form into words as Scott nodded with her, trying to assure her that he would –but he had no idea what she was trying to say, and she wasn't able to finish her sentence as the spark inside of her burned out and her eyes fluttered closed, one last time.

Scott cried out as he lovingly rubbed her face and gently shook her motionless body, trying to wake her up. To get her to talk to him, hear her voice or see her brown eyes one last time… but she was gone.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN – Thank you all for reading. R.I.P Allison Argent**


	36. How Can This Happen, How Can This Be

**Chapter 36 - How Can This Happen, How Can This Be**

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><p>Avery's breathing was shallow as she looked over to see Teagan screaming out Allison's name, as she tried to scramble across the pavement to where Scott was holding her lifeless body, but Isaac quickly caught her and lowered them both to the ground, holding her tight as tears poured down her cheeks.<p>

"Let me go!" She shrieked struggling against him as she shouted, "I have –I have to… I have to help her, I need to do something!" Her words were broken by sobs and frustrated screams, but Isaac held her tight as he quietly said, "There's nothing you can do, Teagan. She's gone."

Avery closed her stinging eyes as her best friend let out another pained scream before collapsing against Isaac, burying her face in his jacket as she cried for the loss of her friend.

Letting out a pained breath Avery put a hand against her chest and tried to take in another breath, but she couldn't as she saw Lydia' stumble out of the building with a very weak Stiles, she could tell by the look on the red heads face that she already knew what had happened.

Leaning over and still fighting for a breath she thought back to how Lydia must have known before all of them, she'd somehow told Meredith that she didn't want to be found. And she'd left the message on her car window as well, but the group didn't understand; they were only worried about getting to Lydia.

Pinning her eyes shut she tried to block out the sounds around her, but she couldn't. All she could hear was Teagan's pained cries and Lydia sobbing as she slid down the wall and landed to the ground, where Stiles leaned down beside her pulling her against him.

Scott was still crying and mumbling Allison's name like he was trying to get her to wake up, but everyone knew she'd never open her eyes again.

Her mind was racing and it felt like her control was slipping, she felt unstable and like she could break at any moment. But as Avery raised her head and saw all of her broken friends, she knew she couldn't. She couldn't break down, because everyone else already had. Even Isaac had tears in his eyes as he held Teagan tightly against him.

Closing her eyes she tried to calm some of the noise in her head, knowing she needed something to focus on, so she thought about what would happened next. They'd have to call the police, and a false story would need to be thought up. Everyone would have to say the same thing, and they needed to hide their weapons.

Finally able to take a deep breath she looked back around the scene, Kira and her mom were huddled up against the building, both of them with broken expressions as she could see her friend's cheek were tear streaked.

Stiles was still holding Lydia as she kept crying and saying that she'd tried to warn them, that none of them should have even been there. She could hear Stiles telling her he was sorry; not that he had any reason to be, it wasn't his fault.

Isaac was still cradling an inconsolable Teagan, and trying to comfort her when he looked devastated himself. Allison had died saving his life and he'd never be able to forget that.

In reality it wasn't that far of a walk, but it seemed to take years before she finally reached Scott.

"Scott…" She breathed, ignoring the tears stinging her eyes as she reminded herself she couldn't break down, she had to stay strong. Approach the situation the way she'd been trained too, unemotionally.

Her gaze fell to Allison's limp, bloody body before she quickly looked away and repeated, "Scott!"

He didn't respond, just kept rocking back and forth with his first love dead in his arms.

Leaning down next to him she placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump and finally look over at her with red rimmed eyes as a few tears fell from his face.

"You have to let her go…" She whispered, refusing to look down at her deceased friend.

Scott made some inaudible noises as he shook his head and whimpered out, "I –I can't. It's Allison… I can't let her go."

Avery pinned her eyes shut, forcing the pain down and somehow found the strength to clear her throat and say, "I know, but Scott… there isn't anything you can do."

He looked back down to unnaturally pale face as he saw the blood on her lips and repeated, "I can't let go… I don't know how."

Avery raised her head and looked behind her for help, from any of her friends but everyone was still in the same spot, seemingly paralyzed by their grief.

"Scott."

When he didn't look at her in a loud, shaky voice she repeated, "Scott!"

His gaze jerked back to her and in a hoarse voice she softly said, "Allison is still here, she is all around us… she always will be."

Reaching down she gently started to guide Allison's limp body out of Scott's arms as she said, "But…"

Glancing behind her to see the rest of her broken friends she turned back to Scott and said, "We don't have the luxury of breaking down right now. Because even though she's gone… this war isn't over, we still have to save Stiles. And she wouldn't want us to give up, you know that."

He nodded taking in a deep rattling breath, but his gaze started to fall as he felt her body slipping out of his arms.

"Don't." Avery quickly said, knowing if he looked down, he'd start the entire process over again. "Just look at me, okay? Don't look down."

Another tear made it's way down his cheek as he slowly, and weakly let out the breath he'd taken in and kept his gaze as Avery as she very gently laid Allison's body the rest of the way down on the pavement.

"Stand up." She instructed as she hooked an arm under his and helped him up to his feet, reminding him to not look down.

They made it a few feet away from Allison's body when it seemed to hit him again and he came to a stop as he started to turn around, Avery stopped again as she hugged him and said, "I'm sorry, I am so sorry…"

It took a few moments before she felt him hug her back, and she pinned her eyes shut reminding herself that there was still work to be done, and that breaking down not only wouldn't help, at this point it was flat out unacceptable. She didn't deserve to mourn her friend's death, not when she felt like she should be the lifeless copse, not Allison.

Her chin quivered as she thought about how she should be the one who died, but how a part of her wished it was her body laying there lifeless in a puddle of blood. Her mom was right, she'd be the death of her friends, that she was born bad… and not she was sure there wasn't any redeemable in her.

Over Scott's shoulder she saw the faceless blonde image that had been haunting her lingering off to the side just on the other side of the rusted, broken down, cobweb ridden fence. With a small gasp she pinned her eyes shut and rested her forehead against his shoulder as she tried to calm down and remain focused.

By the time she stepped back from the hug Teagan and Isaac we're now standing up, she'd stopped her loud sobs and was now clutching onto him, staring at Allison's body with a pained expression on her face while Isaac held her close and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Scott looked at Avery, a devastated and slightly confused look on his face. He still didn't even understand how any of this had happened, it didn't seem real. There was no way Allison Argent was really dead, it seemed impossible. He knew Avery was right, that they needed to keep going, keep fighting. Not only is what Allison would have wanted, but if she was there she wouldn't let them stop fighting. But he had no idea where to go from here, or even in which direction he should take his next step.

Seeing the confused look on his face she looked around and spotted Lydia still sitting with Stiles, who seemed to be looking worse by the second. Clearing her throat she said, "You should go check on Stiles."

"Okay." He hoarsely agreed as he started a slow, almost stumbling walk over to his friends.

"Avery…" She heard Teagan choke out but she couldn't stop to talk to her. At the moment she couldn't do anything but head back to Allison's body, knowing what they needed to do.

Kneeling down she stared at her fallen friend's face, as she whispered, "I'm sorry, Allison. You didn't deserve this… it should have been me."

Seeing the strap to the pouch she wore to hold her arrows in, Avery very gently started to raise her friend's body to pull it off of her.

Breaking out of Isaac's protective, warm embrace Teagan started for her as she stuttered out, "What are you doing?"

After getting the pouch, Avery picked up the wooden bow and stood up as she handed them to her friend and said, "Put these in the car."

Teagan's eyes widened as she looked down not understanding what was happening, she sniffled and wiped tears from her cheeks as she gasped, "What?"

"Put them in the car." She repeated as she pushed the objects into Teagan's hands, before look to Isaac as she said, "The rest of the weapons need picked up too. We're going to have to call the cops."

"And it would lead to questions we can't answer." Teagan stammered out, before letting out a pained noise as she remembered what Allison had taught them. She needed to be strong, approach the situation unemotionally like Avery was, but when she looked down to Allison's body she couldn't.

It just hurt too bad to have to lose someone else she loved, she'd already lost so much in her life and for a moment after Avery had closed the door in her mind –she thought everything might turn out okay. But now one of her best friends was dead, murdered right in front of her.

"Don't look, Teagan." Avery said, stepping in front of her friend's eyesight to block Allison's body.

Isaac blinked back some tears of his own as he nodded and said, "Come on…"As he lead her over to the car to put the weapons away.

It wasn't until Stiles was leaving with Kira and her mother, that Chris Argent made his presence known to the group. He'd been silently watching them, trying to build the strength he needed after losing so much in his life. He'd lost his sister to this world, his wife and now his daughter. Taking a deep breath he reminded himself that he needed to compartmentalize his emotions, keep his priorities in check and right now, his top priority was going to have to be coaching the group of teens through the next few steps, something he only hoped he had the strength to do.

As he walked closer to them, Avery stepped forward approaching him. In response, he came to a stop and looked down, expecting her to start falling apart like everyone else was doing. Which was only going to make his job harder, but she surprised him as she stepped up and said, "We removed all the weapons from the scene, what do we do now?"

He let out a small relieved breath, thankful that he had someone to help him through coaching the others.

He looked at her, pausing for a moment while he came up with a story and told her they needed to split everyone up, and make sure they were on the same page for police interviews, because once they got to the station they'd be separated.

As Scott and Lydia approached them, Chris said, "I'll talk to them, you go to Teagan and Isaac."

She nodded in agreement and looked over to see her friends leaned against the fence not too far from the cars.

She went over their cover story but Teagan didn't respond as she stared down to the ground.

"What did I say, T?" Avery asked loudly, getting her friend attention.

"We, uh…" She breathed, before shaking her head back and forth.

"It's okay, babe…" Isaac soothed as he rubbed her back, "It's okay, we're gonna get through this. It's you and me."

Nodding Teagan tried harder to remember the story as she said, "We called… her dad first."

Avery nodded, but frowned when she didn't go on.

"There were two of them…" Avery said, her voice trailing off.

When her best friend still didn't respond, Isaac helped, "There were two of them, and they tried to steal her car."

"They wore masks, and one of them had a knife." Teagan cried as she wiped the tears from her cheeks and leaned against Isaac as he curled an arm around her.

"No." Avery argued, with a sigh she said, "You never give specifics, remember? It makes you looks suspicious, in a moment of panic like that you're not going to see exactly is happening."

"They had something sharp and…it just all happened so fast." Isaac helped Teagan to remember before he closed his eyes and whispered, "It happened so fast…"

"Teagan, if you get confused you say that you 'don't know that everything just happened so fast'." Avery repeated.

The brunette nodded and hoarsely asked, "How are you even doing this… I'm falling apart, she's gone! She's dead…"

Isaac held his girlfriend tighter, wishing there was something he could say to help her but he didn't have the first clue as to what those words would be.

"This is what we learned, Teagan. This is what we do, Allison trained us for a situation like this." Avery reminded her, somehow still managing to keep everything pushed down.

"But this _is_ Allison!" Teagan shrieked, "What we learned was just training… this wasn't supposed to happen! She's not supposed to be dead!" Everytime she closed her eyes all she could see was the oni slicing into Isaac, and then turning to see Allison be stabbed.

"Focus, Teagan!" Avery yelled back at her, knowing the cops would be there any minute.

"None of this was supposed to happen…" Teagan sobbed desperately clutching onto Isaac's coat, until she felt someone pull her away from him.

Opening her eyes she saw Avery was holding onto her upper arms, as the sirens in the distance grew closer.

"When we get to the station, they're going to interview us separately. I won't be there to coach you and Isaac won't be in there to help you." Avery said with a determined expression.

Taking a deep breath and forcing air into her sore lungs, the brunette nodded as she said, "There were 2 of them, they were wearing masks… or something over their face, it was dark and hard to tell. One of them had something sharp… metallically, a knife I think… I don't really know. It all happened so fast and then she was on the ground, bleeding and they guys took off. We didn't know what to do and we called her dad first, but it was too late… she was already gone by the time he got here."

"Good, that's really good." Avery nodded, thinking just in time too as their immediate area was covered in flashing red and blue lights.

**~()~**

Teagan stared down at the floor, she still had a hard time wrapping her mind around what happened. She couldn't believe Allison was gone. The bright eyed brunette was really gone.

Now she and her friends were sitting side by side at the station as they were questioned one by one. She could hear several sniffles coming from her right side, as her friends silently cried over the sudden loss.

She closed her eyes, feeling a tear slide down her face. Any time she closed her eyes, she saw the scene replaying in her head, the oni sword stabbing Allison. More tears rained down her face as she played out different scenarios in her head, different ways she could have maybe saved her friend.

All she knew was this shouldn't have happened. They were supposed to walk in that place, save their best friend Lydia and all walk out together, not having to watch one of their friends die right before their eyes.

Teagan snapped her eyes open when she heard the door beside her open and someone softly say her name. She looked up to see Isaac walking out the door, the cops were done questioning him and now it was her turn.

She turned her head to the right, seeing Scott and Lydia softly crying at the end of the bench, and Avery sitting beside her staring straight ahead, her face emotionless. When she heard the sheriff call her name again, she looked back over at him and Isaac.

"Are you ready?" Sheriff Stilinski asked her. He hated having to question any of them after what happened, but knew he had to.

Teagan didn't say anything, instead she nodded her head and stood up. She glanced up when Isaac stopped in front of her. He placed his hands on either side of her face before giving her a tender kiss on her forehead, keeping his lips there a little longer hoping to give her the strength she needed to get through this.

"I'm right here for you, okay?" He whispered out, letting her know he was with her even if he couldn't be in the room with her. "It's you and me."

"It's you and me." Teagan whimpered out, as she grabbed on to his arms, wishing she didn't have to leave his comforting embrace.

When he felt her shivering, he removed his jacket, wrapping it around her shoulders hoping it would help warm her up. Plus he hoped by having something with her of his it would help her during her questioning. He saw her wrapped the jacket around her, then lower her head, taking a deep breath and catching a whiff of his cologne.

He laid his hands on her arms, running his hands up and down to help warm her up. "I'm right here." He whispered again.

Isaac gave her a quick kiss on the side of her head, then turned to face the Sheriff as he laid a hand on the small of her back, leading her toward her door. He came to a stop, watching the Sheriff usher her into the room and toward a chair to sit down.

He stood there; feeling helpless and wished he could be by her side during this but knew he couldn't be. The Sheriff shot him a look as if he knew how badly he wanted to be in the room, but couldn't allow him to sit in while they questioned her. He nodded his head at Isaac, as if apologizing, before he shut the door.

"Teagan, I know this is a hard and difficult time, but we have to ask you to relay the events as you remember them, okay?" The Sheriff spoke up and said, before sitting down in the chair across from her; with Parrish sitting in the chair beside him taking notes.

Teagan didn't say anything, just nodded her head as she looked down at her hands; which were resting in her lap.

"What did you see, Teagan? What happened?" Sheriff Stilinski asked her. When she didn't answer, he glanced over at Parrish, both wondering if they would be able to get anything out of her. Stilinski looked back over at her as he softly said her name a couple of times, finally getting her attention.

"Did you see anything, Teagan?" Parrish quietly spoke up, trying to help get the interview going.

"I saw- I saw mask, they had mask on." Teagan softly said, her voice barely above a whisper. She closed her eyes for a moment, seeing the oni in her mind; their dark figures, the dark mask they wore and their glowing green eyes. She released a breath, as she opened her eyes, then added, "I-I mean, I think, I think they had on mask. It-It happened so fast."

"That's good, that's good, Teagan. Anything else?" Parrish questioned, trying to get the girl to open up more.

Teagan swallowed a lump in her throat, then closed her eyes again; her face scrunching up in pain as she imagined the sword stabbing Allison again. She heard her screams echoing in her head as she cried for her fallen friend.

"Teagan?" Stilinski said, when minutes passed and she didn't say anything.

She couldn't say anything at the moment if she wanted to not while the whole horrible scene played out in her head again like a movie. Now in her mind, she was with Avery, talking to her afterwards, coaching her on what to say. She bit her bottom lip, trying to remember everything she was supposed to say.

After a few more silent minutes, she opened her eyes, looking at the two men sitting across from her. She reached up, wiping a tear from her cheek, before she finally spoke up.

"There were two of them and like I said before, I think they were wearing masks. It was dark and hard to tell. One of them had something sharp… maybe a knife? I'm not sure, it happened so..." She paused for a moment, trying to keep from falling apart, as she continued, "It happened so fast and she was gone. We called her dad. We called him but it was too late."

Tears filled her eyes, making her vision blurry, as she whispered, "She was gone."

"Is there anything else you can think of? Anything at all?" Parrish questioned.

"No, I'm sorry, I-" Teagan began to say, as she lowered her head. She used the sleeve of Isaac's jacket to wipe the tears from her eyes. Once her vision cleared some, she saw specks of dry blood on the sleeve, blood she knew came from him during the fight with the oni; taking her back to that moment.

In that moment, she thought she was going to lose him; for real this time. She felt like her whole world would crumble in that moment, she tried to rush to him but couldn't, then thankfully Allison saved his life. She remembered looking over at Allison, seeing the proud smile on her face; somehow she had killed an oni and saved a friend, but that victory was short-lived.

For that split second, they all thought they had won; they could finally come out on top, they would all walk out of there and celebrate, but now that would never happen.

"We were supposed to celebrate." Teagan whispered so low the other two almost didn't hear it.

"Celebrate what?" Parrish asked confused.

Teagan's eyes flickered over to the younger cop, as she softly said, "Life. That no matter what happened, we all made it out alive but we didn't, did we? Not all of us made it."

"Thank you, Teagan." Stilinski said with a nod, letting her know they were done questioning her. They had already got enough out of her and he didn't see any point in dragging it on any longer or upsetting her more than she already was.

Parrish stood up from the table, gesturing toward the door as he walked along behind her and opened the door for her to walk out.

**~()~**

Avery looked up from the bench she was sitting on when she heard the office door open again, looking up she saw Parrish thank Teagan for her time and say he was sorry for her loss.

"Hey A." Teagan said using the partially shredded tissue to wipe her red, raw eyes.

They had been taking the teenagers in one by one to interview them about their friend's death, and Avery was going to be the last one to go in.

"Do you want me to wait…" She asked, but Avery shook her head back and forth.

"Go on, I'll call someone for a ride when I'm done." She assured before saying that Isaac had went out to get some air a few moments ago.

Teagan started to protest but the door opened again and Deputy Parrish stepped out as he said, "Avery."

They looked up as he opened the door wider and nodded for her to come in.

"I'll call you later." She said nodding again to let best friend know she could leave.

Normally Teagan wouldn't have just left without Avery, but each interview seemed to be taking hours and she just wanted to get out of there. With that thought she headed to the door in search of Isaac.

As she stood up to walk in the room, Sheriff Stilinski came apologizing for the interruption but he had a phone call and couldn't sit the interview.

"I'll sit in on this." Agent McCall offered, as he motioned for the teenager to do into the room, he'd been keeping an eye on her since the group of teens walked into the police station. All of them visibly shaken and in tears, except for her.

Avery sat down on the couch and looked down to the floor as Parrish said, "I'm really sorry for you loss, I wish we could do this at another time, but…"

"I understand." She cut him off, but didn't raise her head at all.

"Can you tell us what happened?" He continued, the interview. It was obvious to him that she was upset but he couldn't just go over there and hold her to make her feel better, he couldn't do anything but continue the intrusive line of questioning.

She went over the rehearsed story, it was a car jacking, there were 2 of them who'd pulled a knife or something, it had all happened so fast she couldn't remember much else.

Writing her statement down he nodded and in a soft, comforting voice said, "Thank you for your time."

Just as she started to stand up, Agent McCall cut in, "Actually deputy, I'll take it from here… there's a few questions I have for her."

Seeing the young officers hesitation to leave the room he questioned, "Is there a problem, deputy?"

Standing up he admitted, "It's just… I think she's been through enough."

Avery raised her head and looked at him with a surprised expression at seeing him stand up for her.

"And while I'm sympathetic and I appreciate your concern… I still have some questions. You're free to go." The FBI agent said, his tone a bit harsher than it was before.

"Yes, sir." Parrish nodded as he handed him the clipboard he'd been writing on, to the detective and left the room shooting Avery an empathetic look.

**~()~**

After hearing Isaac was outside, Teagan made her way toward the door, pushed it open and stepped outside, taking in a deep breath of fresh air. She was glad her interview was over, she honestly didn't know how much longer she could have stayed in that room, having to relive that horrible moment again and again.

"Teagan." She heard someone call out, causing her to look off to the side, seeing her father; who had called out her name standing beside Isaac.

"Daddy." Teagan murmured, as she stumbled over toward her father, falling into his arms as a sob broke free.

Paul held his daughter close with a pained look on his face, she had lost so much in her short life and now she had lost a close friend. He wished there was something he could do, some magic words he could speak to make it all better but he knew there was nothing he could say.

"So it's true, your friend, Allison. She's..." Paul began to ask, as he pulled back to look at her.

Teagan nodded her head, as more tears fell down her face. "Yeah. She's-she's gone." She whimpered out.

"I'm sorry, Sweet Tea. I'm so sorry, baby girl." Paul said, as he pulled her back toward him to hug her.

"How did you know?" Teagan questioned.

"Isaac called me." Paul answered, as the two glanced over at the boy in question. Teagan smiled at her boyfriend as Paul gave him a nod, thanking him. Isaac knew the bond between them and knew seeing her father would help.

Paul glanced over at the building of the station, as he added, "They should have called me though. Before they said a word to you, they should have called me."

"Dad... dad it's okay." Teagan said, seeing that he was getting angery but deep down they both knew he wasn't really mad about that. He was just upset at the situation, he hated seeing his daughter hurting and he couldn't do anything about it.

She shook her head, as she added, "Besides it's not like they were questioning me as a suspect, they just wanted to know what happened."

"Still, you shouldn't have gone through that alone. You have been through too much; I hate the thought of you being alone." Paul stated, as he laid a hand on the side of her face.

Teagan laid her hand on top of his, then reached out with her other hand to grab Isaac's hand, before saying, "I'm not alone. I have you two, I know you two would do anything for me and I am so grateful to have you both in my life." She sniffed, feeling a tear roll down her cheek, as she continued, "Sometimes I don't think it gets said enough, but I want you two to know, I love you."

Her eyes flickered over to her father, as she said, "Daddy, I love you and I would be lost without. As more stuff spirals out of control, I know you wonder sometimes if you did the right thing in bringing me back to this town, but I honestly believe that you did. You don't have to feel guilty any time something happens. You are an amazing father and I am so glad you are my father."

"And I'm glad you are my daughter." Paul said. He gave her a smile, as he rubbed her cheek, and said, "I'm so proud of you, Sweet Tea."

Teagan smiled back at his words, then glanced over at Isaac. She squeezed his hand, as she said,"And I love you, Isaac Lahey. My calm in the middle of a storm. Sometimes I feel like I can't breathe without you. You have saved me so many times and I love you for that. I love everything about you. You are the boy who changed my whole life with one kiss."

Isaac smiled, as he brought their joined hands up to his mouth kissing the back of her hand.

Teagan looked at both of them, as she said, "No matter what, I always want you two to know exactly how I feel about you both. I never want you two to wonder about my feelings." She reached up to wipe away the tears, as she softly said, "I just wish I would have taken the time to tell Allison more how important she was to me. How much I valued her friendship, how proud of I am of her."

"I'm sure she knew, Sweet Tea." Paul said, as he gave her a small smile. "Why don't we get you home?" He suggested, as he nodded his head toward the parking lot where his car, as well as hers, was parked.

Teagan was about to nod her head in agreement, until she thought about something, thought about what was in the trunk of her car; making her realize she had something she needed to do.

She felt Isaac pull on her hand, wanting her to follow him and her dad, but she shook her head, as she said,"I can't, not yet. I need to do something first."

"What?" Paul asked his daughter.

"We all lost a friend but someone lost a daughter." Teagan stated, referring to Chris. She couldn't imagine the hurt he was going through at the moment and felt like she should check on him. She felt like it was something Allison would want her to do. Plus she wanted to give him Allison's bow, which was the thing in her trunk.

Paul nodded his head in understanding. There were times he feared he would lose his daughter, and now Chris actually did lose his. He didn't know exactly how that felt, but he knew it had to be hard dealing with that alone.

Paul kissed her on the side of the head, as he said, "I'll see you at home later, Sweet Tea. Tell Chris I'm sorry for his lost."

"I will, Dad." Teagan said. She hugged her father, as she said,"I love you."

"I love you too." Paul said, as he hugged her back.

After saying goodbye to her father and watching him drive out of the parking lot, Teagan turned to look at Isaac, without a word, he held out his arms as she walked toward him, throwing her arms around his middle, as he pulled her close.

"I love you, Teagan." Isaac softly said, wanting her to know exactly how he felt. "You're my dream girl, you are all I've ever wanted. You're all I'll ever want." He leaned forward to softly kiss her lips, as he whispered, "You are it for me."

"You are it for me too." Teagan said back, as she laid her hands on the back of his neck, pulling him toward her, as she pressed her lips against his for a gentle kiss. After everything they had been through lately, after everything that had happened, this is what she needed, his love and his strength. He was her anchor and she was his, together they could get through anything

**~()~**

"Hello Avery." Scott's dad greeted one of his sons closest friends.

"Agent McCall."

"I don't mean to sound insensitive here, but I also can't help but notice that you seem to the only one of your friends not visibly upset by Allison Argent's death."

"Oh, I'm sorry… what would you like me reaction to be? Throw myself on the floor in a fit of hysteria? Or did you have another idea of how I should mourn the sudden, untimely death of one of my best friends."

"Avery…"

"No, really, if you have any ideas on how I should be handling this tragedy, let me know. Because I'm a loss of what to say, do, or feel right now." She hissed out, angered at him for holding her there while she had bigger problems, like the fact that Stiles still seemed to be going downhill even after being separated from the nogitsune.

She grew angrier by the moment as he brought up her own carjacking and attempted murder, the last thing she wanted to think about was Kate Argent and what she'd done to her.

When Avery become more and more hostile in his dealing with her, he finally checked the time on his watch and said, "I have somewhere I need to be, we'll have to pick this back up later today."

"Can't wait." Avery snapped as she stood up, but he quickly rushed forward holding onto her arm as he explained how she wasn't able to go home yet.

"You can't hold me here!" She yelled.

"For 24 hours, yes I can." He explained.

"I'm a suspect… in my own best friend's murder? Are you freaking kidding me?" She gasped, not sure how the questioning had gone so wrong.

When he started to open the door she fought back even more, "Call my lawyer."

"Let me guess, Paul young… your friend Teagan's father?" He replied, calling her bluff.

"Let me get you sat down and I'll call him right up." He said as he pulled open the door.

Not wanting to drag Teagan's dad into this mess she sighed, "Forget it."

She thought he was leading her to a bench to sit down, but when it came apparent he was taking her straight to the holding cells she started to pull away from him as she screamed, "Do you have any idea who I am? You cannot lock me up like some common criminal."

With a sigh at her dramatic behavior he pushed her into the cell and slide the bar door shut behind her.

Grabbing onto the bars she shook them as she continued, to yell out in the police station, "I will have your job for this!"

Ignoring her threats he walked over and explained to Sheriff Stilinski what was happening and why she was being held there.

Hearing her voice echoing through the station Deputy Parrish headed back towards the office then stopped as he saw her standing in one of the holding cells with an angry expression on her face.

"Sheriff, what's going on? Why are we holding her?" He questioned, finding his boss.

Sighing and looking to the door where Agent McCall left a few moments before, he replied, "He thinks her behavior is suspicious…"

"Suspicious? Everyone deals with loss differently…"

"I know, and I'm going to fix this. I just need some time." He admitted, looking past the young deputy to where Avery let out a frustrated scream before punching the cement wall at the back of the cell. All of her friends were going to be out there, fighting for not only their own lives but fighting to save Stiles and she'd landed herself in a holding cell at the sheriff's station.

"We can't just keep her here… I'll talk to Agent McCall." He offered looking over his shoulder to where Avery was now examining her sore hand.

"And tell him what, exactly?" Sheriff Stilinski asked the deputy.

Turning his attention back the higher ranking officer he said, "That she's not a suspect in this murder investigation and that she's probably reacting this way because it's bringing up memories of when she almost wound up dead in a similar situation."

With raised eyebrows he said, "How do you even know about that?"

"She told me." He quickly covered, he couldn't very well admit he'd been looking into her records and files.

"If you try to talk to McCall about this, all you're going to do is bring up questions as to how you even know so much about her. I said I'll take care of it, I know she didn't do this." He dismissed the conversation as he started to walk away, pausing as he looked to where Parrish had turned around and was watching Avery in the holding cell.

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you for reading! ^_^ We hope you all liked the chapter, just 5 more left now!**


	37. She Saved Us All

**Chapter 37 - She Saved Us All**

* * *

><p>Several minutes later, Teagan and Isaac were standing side by side in front of the door that led to the Argent's apartment. Teagan had Allison's bow across her arms and tears in her eyes. Even though it was her idea to come here, now that she was, she felt like she couldn't move.<p>

Just imagining walking into the apartment and not seeing Allison's smiling face waiting on her was like a punch in the stomach. Just knowing she would never walk into this place again to hang out with her friend; trade secrets, tell stories or laugh ever again, made her want to fall down in a sobbing mess but she knew she had to be strong –be the way Allison would want her to be.

Isaac glanced over at his girlfriend for a moment, hearing her sniff and reach up to wipe the tears from her face. He laid a hand on the small of her back, giving it a rub, as he asked her if she was ready.

She bit her lip and nodded her head, afraid to open her mouth and speak at the moment.

Isaac reached up to lightly knock on the front door, then the two waited for a moment, before the door was pulled open to reveal a heartbroken Chris Argent. His eyes were red from his break down earlier once he was home alone.

He held it together through everything; walking up to his daughter's body, watching them load her up and drive away, coaching the others on what to say and talking to the police. Even when he first walked into the quiet and empty apartment, he was able to keep his tears away but when he walked past her bedroom he couldn't hold it in any longer.

Next thing he knew, he found himself sitting on the floor in front of her bed, sobbing for his beautiful, strong and brave daughter. The one who was taken from him way too soon.

"What are you two doing here?" Chris questioned. He wasn't being rude, just curious on why the two teenagers were there.

"I just wanted to… I thought you would want this." Teagan softly said, as she held out the bow. "And we thought we would check on you." She added.

Chris reached out, taking the bow from her hands, his eyes looking over it, taking it all in. A small smile appeared on his face as a flood of memories crossed his mind like a picture book.

The time Allison first picked up a bow, the grin on her face when she hit the target for the first time and any other time she fired an arrow; getting better and better every time. She was a natural at it, one of the best he had seen in years.

Chris looked back over at the teens, then nodded his head gesturing for them to come inside as he laid the bow down on the table by the door.

Once they were inside, he shut the door, keeping his back toward them as he said,"I appreciate the concern, but you don't have to check on me. I'll be all right." He took a deep breath, trying to be strong, as he continued, "I've dealt with this before. I have a capacity and... an ability to compartmentalize my emotions."

"We don't." Teagan tearfully said, referring to not only her and Isaac but all of her friends in general. None of them were prepared for anything like this.

Hearing the pain in her voice, Chris turned around, seeing tears running down the young girl's face and seeing Isaac standing beside her; trying to be brave and keep it together but had tears in his own eyes. He and Allison might not have always got along, but he still considered her a friend and losing her was devastating.

Chris blew out a shaky breath, feeling himself tear up again. Without a word, he walked over to the teens, pulling them both in his arms, realizing he needed the comfort just as much as they did.

**~()~**

Once the sheriff was gone Deputy Parrish walked over to the cell and Avery rushed to the bars as she pleaded, "Let me out, please!"

The look on her face hurt him, she was terrified and looked to be on the verge of a panic attack but there was nothing he could do to help her.

"I'm sorry… I wish I could, I really wish I could." He said quietly looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching them.

Tears stung her eyes as her face twisted in confusion as she continued to plead with him, "You don't understand… I can't be here, this is literally the worst possible time for this! My friends they need me…"

He looked at her with a pained expression and tried to assure her, "Sheriff Stilinski is doing what he can to get you out of here."

"No, no, no. Parrish, you don't understand… I have to get out of here, it's a matter of life or death.

Stepping closer almost right up against the bars he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"I don't have time to explain… if you won't let me out, I need to call Teagan." She urged, her eyes wide with a level of fear he couldn't begin to comprehend the reasoning of.

"Avery… no one is supposed to do anything until Agent McCall is gets back later today." He gave her a sincere apologetic look, but when she opened her mouth to beg him so more he turned to leave.

**~()~**

After sitting around talking with Chris some, Teagan left the room to use the bathroom. As she washed her hands, she glanced up, looking in the mirror and barely recognizing herself. Her face was pale and her eyes were red and swollen from all the crying she done. She didn't think she had stopped crying since losing Allison.

She splashed some cold water on her face, hoping that would help and then exited the room, making her way back down the hallway, then paused when she came to Allison's bedroom. Like Chris earlier, just seeing the room brought on a fresh round of tears.

She walked over to the bed, seeing a few shirts tossed on it from when Allison got dressed that morning. It was hard to believe it was still the same day. It felt like she had been grieving for her friend for weeks now, when really, it was just a few hours.

Teagan reached out her hand shaking, as she picked up one of the shirts. A small smile on her face when she remembered the day Allison bought the shirt. It seemed like so long ago and in a way it was, it was like a different life time ago. Back when Allison first moved to town back before anyone of them knew what was really running around in their town, back before any of them were pulled into this world.

It was one of the few times the four girls; Allison, Lydia, Avery and herself, went shopping, back before everything began to spiral out of control.

Teagan laid the shirt down and walked over toward Allison's desk, lightly touching her things, then glanced up, seeing a small cork board with several different pictures on it. A couple of when Allison dated Scott, a few of Allison's mother, as well as several of Allison with all her different friends. Some were just her and one friend, or some were her and the other three girls, but in all of them; she was smiling, she was happy, she was full of life. She was the way Teagan wanted to remember her as, the happy girl who loved too much and was take too soon. The one who died saving her friends, the girl who saved the day.

Teagan was so busy looking at the pictures that she didn't hear anyone enter the room, until they spoke up, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Hey, there you are." Isaac stated, as he walked into the room. He glanced around for a moment, he wasn't in Allison's room much before but it still felt stranger being in it without her.

He kept waiting for her to walk in, saying something that would make Teagan laugh, then make some comment to him, forcing him to playfully roll his eyes before saying something snarky back. Things were rocky between them at one point but through their connection with Teagan, things were getting better. They were becoming friends, they were helping each out. The last great thing she ever did for him was saving his life, something he would never be able to pay her back for.

"I wondered where you got off to." He softly said, as he walked up behind her. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her back toward him as he kissed the top of her head.

"I was just- honestly I don't know why I came in here." Teagan admitted, as she laid a hand on the arm that was around her. "Maybe I just wanted to feel close to her."

Isaac nodded his head, unsure what to say back so instead he just held her. All he could offer her was his comfort and strength. But he knew nothing could take away the hurt she was feeling at the moment. He knew nothing would ever be the same again.

Teagan glanced down, seeing a set of daggers laid across the desk. She picked one up, laying it flat in her hand, as she lightly ran a finger across the sharp blade, being careful not to cut herself.

A small smile appeared on her face as she remembered the first time Allison trained her and Avery on the proper way to use them. It wasn't an easy lesson, but she finally learned.

"I remember when Allison was training us on these. Avery picked it up right away." She spoke up, getting Isaac's attention. He tilted his head to look at her better, as she continued, "But for some reason, I just couldn't get the hang of them. Allison showed me… I know a hundred of times, of how to twirl it around my finger then catch it just right so I don't cut myself but every single time I tried I would cut myself. It hurt like hell too, like little paper cuts and I was so close to giving up, but then she placed her hands on my shoulders and she said..." She paused for a second, flashing back to that conversation in her mind. She could almost hear Allison's voice, as she continued, "She said, _'Teagan I know you can do this. I've seen you overcome so much and this won't be any different. You just have to keep trying. As long as you try, you'll never fail and I'll be right beside you every step of the way'_. She never gave up on me. No matter how many times I failed, she never gave up."

Teagan slipped her finger in the hole at the bottom of the handle, twirling it around then caught the handle in her hand. Doing it exactly how Allison showed her that day, only this time she didn't cut herself. After that day she never cut herself on the dagger again. She was finally able to do it right.

"And you got the hang of it." Isaac pointed out. "You never stopped trying. She knew you could do it and she was right. She never gave up on you, and you never gave up on yourself. I'm sure she was proud of you."

"He's right." They heard Chris say from behind them as he slowly made his way into the bedroom, Allison's bow back in his hands.

As the two teenagers turned to look at him, he continued, "She was proud of you and Avery. She said you two were picking things up so fast, you would master anything she threw at you. She had no doubt that you two would make great hunters and I think she's right."

He looked back down at the bow, as he said, "I appreciate you bringing this to me, but I don't know if I'm the right one who should have this. The bow was her weapon, she took to it so quickly. She mastered it so fast and I was... I was proud of her." He paused for a moment, swallowing the lump in his throat, before he looked up at Teagan, and said, "It should be used by someone who loves it as much as she did. Someone she would be proud of."

Chris held it out to Teagan, waiting for her to take it. She sat the dagger back on the desk, and then reached out to take the bow. She looked down at it, seeing a few chipped marked on it, from when the Oni's swords connected with it when she used it to block one of them from trying to hit her.

She ran her finger over the mark, as she whispered, "She saved me." She raised her head to look at Chris, tears in her eyes as she said, "Your daughter saved me. With this bow, she saved me from being sliced with a sword."

"She saved me too." Isaac spoke up, as he pulled Teagan closer to him. "She saved us all. She died a hero."

Chris softly smiled at their words, as he nodded his head. He wasn't at all surprised that she gave her life for them. That was just the type of person his daughter was. Fearless, loyal and selfless.

"She kept trying to say something." Isaac quietly said, breaking the silence.

"What's that?" Chris asked.

"She was trying to say something to Scott. _'You have to tell him'_, she said." He paused for a moment, remembering what else she said before she died. "_'You have to tell my father_...' She didn't get a chance to finish it, but I'm sure it was just that she loved you."

"It's okay." Chris said, as he nodded his head as if to thank him for telling him. "It's okay. She made a point of telling me earlier."

"Earlier?" Teagan questioned.

"There's a tradition we have." Chris began to say.

"The silver bullet." Teagan interrupted. She remembered Allison telling her and Avery once, that after someone finished learning all the skills to be a hunter they made a silver bullet as a testament to the code.

"She was making a silver arrowhead." Chris stated.

"Her weapon." Teagan quietly said, with a small smile on her face as she thought about her friend. She shouldn't have been surprised that she would make an arrowhead instead of a bullet. Allison always did things her way, that's what made her special.

She looked back down at the bow in her hands, flashing back to the fight with the Oni, remembering the close calls all of them had. She remembered how hard it was going against them, how her sword would go straight through them. The only time something harmed them was when Allison shot one with an arrow to save Isaac, if it wasn't for that he would be gone, they all would be cause she honestly didn't see any of them lasting much longer in the impossible fight.

As a thought crossed her mind, she lowered her eyebrows in through and ran a finger along the string of the bow. She thought again about how the arrow went into one of the Oni and actually stayed there. How was that even possible?

With a small gasp, she looked up at Chris, as she said, "Wait a minute, where is it? The arrowhead, I mean?"

"Downstairs." Chris asked, wondering why it mattered.

"What is it?" Isaac asked, seeing the look on her face, knowing she was thinking something.

"I need to see it." Teagan stated, as she pulled away from Isaac and began to walk toward the bedroom door.

"Why?" Chris questioned, feeling just as confused as Isaac.

"Because I have a feeling, it's not there." Teagan answered before she rushed out of the door the other two following along behind her.

After arriving downstairs, the three walked over toward a table, where the Argent's kept their weapons and other stuff. Chris switched on a light and then pulled back the black cloth that was sitting on the table; revealing four silver arrowheads.

"Why would she make four of these?" Chris questioned.

"She didn't. She made five." Teagan said. "She made the first one, then she figured it out. She used the first silver arrowhead to kill one of the Oni."

"We saw her do it." Isaac added, as he nodded his head.

"How?" Chris asked.

"The same way that you almost did." Isaac said, understanding what his girlfriend was thinking now.

He looked over at Chris, as he asked, "Do you remember when you told us about one of your first gun deals, the Yakuza?"

"That meeting wasn't one of my first deals. It was my first deal." Chris pointed out.

"The bullet that you used to shoot the Oni. Was that a silver bullet?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah." Chris answered, as he thought back to that deal. How he fired a shot at one but all it did was break the mask, it didn't kill him. Which is what he told them.

"Probably went straight through." Teagan said. "I noticed it when we were fighting them. My sword went right through, like they were nothing. Nothing but dark cloth and smoke but what if silver is like a poison to them? It just needs to stay in the body?"

Isaac nodded his head, as he added, "What if that's what she was trying to tell Scott?" He looked over at Chris, as he continued, "What if that's what she was trying to tell you, that she'd figured it out?"

Chris looked down at the arrowheads on the table, as he said, "These four would still been setting when she went off to meet Scott."

"Allison did it. She did it. She figured it all out." Teagan breathed out, as tears filled her eyes with pride for her fallen friend. Allison had saved the day again, it was just unfortunately that she wasn't there to celebrate the victory. That she would never be able to celebrate with her friends again.

Isaac wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her toward him as he kissed the top of her head, before saying, "We can stop them."

Chris picked up one of the arrowheads, as he stated, "No. We can kill them."

**~()~**

It was hard enough seeing Avery locked in the cell, let alone when she kept asking him for help, that was all Parrish wanted to do make things better for her. But he couldn't.

Seeing he was going to leave her she gasped, "No, you can't leave me here…"

"I don't have a choice. I want to help you, but I honestly can't."

As he turned to leave again she quickly reached through the bars and grabbed hand, as she said, "Jordan, I need you to listen to me… I have to make a phone call. Just one phone call, please help me."

He looked down to their connected hands and swallowed hard at the feeling of her flesh on his, before his eyes slowly moved up to her face as she pleaded, "Please."

He looked at their joined hands again before he pulled away from her grip, her heart sank and she felt like all hope was lost as he explained, "I can't let you use any of the station phones."

He checked their surroundings again and slid his personal cellphone through the bars and breathed, "Hurry."

Taking the phone she quickly spun around and dialed her best friend's number as quickly as she could, while Deputy Parrish kept a look out for any other officers.

"Hello?" Teagan asked just before the call went to voicemail, normally she didn't answer calls from numbers she didn't know but she just had a feeling she should take this one.

"T, oh my god." Avery breathed in relief.

"A? Who's phone is this?" She questioned, pulling it away from her ear and looking at the screen again.

"Parrish." Avery whispered, glancing over her shoulder as he looked back at her.

"I don't understand…" Teagan admitted.

"Scott's dad is holding me here at the station, he thinks I'm involved with what happened to –Allison." She paused to take a deep breath before she brought up their late friend's name.

"Oh my god, what?" She gasped, "I'll call my dad…"

"No, don't bother, he doesn't need involved plus Stiles' dad is trying to get me out of here, hopefully it won't be long. But T, even if you don't hear from me for a while, you have to stick to the plan."

"This would all be so much easier if you were here." She sighed into the phone, the last time she wanted to do was let her best friend out of her sight, not after all they'd already lost.

"Avery!" Parrish whisper yelled over his shoulder, reminding her to hurry up.

"I have to go before he gets into trouble. Just don't worry about me, work on saving Stiles… that's the most important thing right now." She urged, wishing with all of her heart that she could be there with them.

"Be careful." Teagan pleaded, her voice barely over a hoarse whisper.

"Me? I'm fine, probably at the safest place in town, Teagan… you be careful, I'll see you soon." She said as she ended the call and turned back around.

As he reached through the bars she placed the phone in his hand and said, "Thank you."

Looking down as his skin brushed against hers she gave him a small smile, which he returned before taking his phone and sliding it back in his pocket.

"What plan we're you talking about?" He questioned, his green eyes meeting hers.

"I asked to borrow a phone not to spied on." She argued, but he could tell by the tone of her voice that she wasn't mad.

Before she could answer him, the Sheriff called out, "Deputy?"

Spinning around and caught off guard he asked, "Yes, sir?"

"I still need your report on the Jones' burglary." He said, looking between them.

"I'll have it on your desk within the hour." He assured him as he turned and walked towards his desk, and sat down glancing back over at Avery before getting started on his paper work from the prior day's cases.

"Do you want something to drink, Avery? Or are you hungry?" Sheriff Stilinski asked the teenager, who shook her head back and forth and reminded him, "I just want out of here."

"I know, I'm working on it." He promised her.

It was close to an hour later that she was sitting on the floor leaned against the wall feeling like she'd been in there for days, when the silence was shattered and turned into complete chaos.

Parrish looked over at her before he headed towards the sounds of fighting and then Avery could hear gunshots.

Jumping to her feet she rushed for the bars and yelled, "Someone let me out of here!"

She watched in fear as officers started to rush all over the police station. 'What's happening?" She shouted, as an officer she didn't recognize raced towards the cell with keys in his hand.

"You need to run." He said as he struggled to find the right key.

But before she could ask another question, she screamed and jumped back when a sword tip emerged from his stomach as blood started to soak his uniform and puddle at his feet. He looked up at her with a pained but shocked expression, like he couldn't process what was happening himself.

Avery took a few stumbling steps backwards, in her mind she was watching Allison be killed all over again, the memory became more vivid when the officer's body crumpled to the floor and she saw an oni standing behind him.

She was lost in it's darkness for a moment as it stared back at her with it's glowing yellow green eyes, before it spun around and brought it sword down slicing deep into another officer who was trying to flee to safety.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Just four more chapters left! ^_^ We've made some videos to go along with the next story which will be titled, 'A New Blue Moon' we'll post the first video when we get chapter 39 up. Thank you all so much for reading, hope you had a great Halloween.**


	38. Just Close Enough to Touch

**Chapter 38 – Just Close Enough to Touch**

* * *

><p>The oni walked away, spilling more and more blood as it went, Avery let out a scream as she slammed the palms of her hands against her head so hard she couldn't see for a few seconds. She had to get the images of watching one of her closest friends being killed from her mind, she needed to focus on the problem at hand; staying alive.<p>

Then it occurred to her that not only was she in the building, so was Stiles' dad and Deputy Parrish, she hadn't seen either since the fight had broken out.

Managing to pull herself together she went back to the bars and reached through, after a small struggle she managed to get the keys out of the blood, next to the fallen officer and let herself out of the cell.

Starting deeper into the police station she stopped when she realized there weren't any more sounds of fighting, no more gunshots just pained moans from the injured, weak and dying.

Her entire body trembled as she wondered what grisly scene she might stumble upon but there was no way she was turning and running. Sheriff Stilinski was in there somewhere, and not only had she also grown attached to him, but she knew how bad Stiles worried about losing his only living parent.

The farther she moved into the building, and the more dead officers she saw the more she was also starting to worry about a certain deputy, with every body she saw, every step she took the fear of losing him was getting stronger –though she didn't quite understand why the feelings were as powerful as they were.

Chalking it up to just being afraid of losing another friend, she turned down a hallway and stopped dead in her tracks as she saw an oni laying on the floor next to a body face down in a puddle of blood.

It wasn't dead, she knew that for sure. She'd only seen one oni die and that was the night when Allison had found a way to kill them, she wasn't sure how her friend had managed it but she did. This one hadn't exploded, it was laying there like it was unconscious.

Slowly she moved closer until she saw it the black smoke like substance rise from the floor and swirl around until the oni was back on it's feet and headed for the room directly in front of it.

"Sheriff!" She heard someone yell and was pretty sure the voice belonged to Parrish. Meaning for the moment at least, they were both alive and she intended to keep it that way.

As she started towards the room loud cracks of gunshots rang out and she slowed her pace the last thing she needed was to get clipped by a bullet. When the sounds died down she rushed into the room and saw there wasn't just one oni anymore, they were dealing with two of them, with one now closing in on her.

"Avery, watch out!" The sheriff yelled, but she had nowhere to run as it came at her swinging it's sword, she expertly avoided every hit as it sliced through the air.

As it raised its sword to her again she ducked down to avoid being struck as she spun and swung her leg out, knocking it down for only a few seconds. But a few seconds was all it took for someone to grab her arm and pulled her away from the immediate danger of it's sword.

**~()~**

Isaac parked the car beside Chris' vehicle, then glanced over at Teagan in the passenger seat for a moment, the two saying everything they needed to say with one look before they threw their doors open and stepped out into the night. Teagan ran to the back of the car, opening the trunk and then reached inside, grabbing the bow.

She pulled it out, looking at it for a minute it felt strange holding Allison's bow. It felt weird thinking about using it, but it also felt right. Allison was the one who figured it out, she was the one who killed an Oni first. It was only fitting that her bow would be the one to end them once and for all.

Teagan looked back inside the trunk, seeing two arrows sitting there. Chris took two and gave her the other two. She had two shots at killing them and she couldn't miss, everyone's lives depended on it.

She closed her eyes, remembering everything Allison ever taught her about bows; how to use one, the right way to pull back the string, the way to line up your shot. Every lesson came rushing back to her. She just hoped she could remember everything in the moment, she hoped she didn't screw this up.

When she felt someone grab her hand, giving it a squeeze, she opened her eyes and looked over at Isaac. He flashed her a small smile, as he whispered, "You can do this, babe. Allison taught you everything you need to know. She believed in you, and I believe in you too."

Teagan softly smiled back, as she nodded her head, then quietly said, "It's you and me."

Isaac leaned forward, pressing his lips against her for a gentle kiss. He rested his forehead against hers, hoping to give her strength as he whispered back, "It's you and me. It's always you and me, Teagan."

Teagan opened her eyes, staring at him and feeling like there was nothing she couldn't do. Knowing he believed in her, knowing that Allison had believed in her, she knew she could do this –she would do this, for Allison.

The two pulled apart when they heard Chris close his car door. They looked over at the older man, who was holding a crossbow as he asked them if they were ready.

Teagan nodded her head, as she grabbed Isaac's hand, before the two began to walk behind Chris as they made their way toward the school building. Scott had texted them earlier about the plan so they knew everyone was here; minus Avery who was stuck at the station. Teagan hated that she wasn't there but knew she would be safe where she was and for that she was grateful.

As they got closer they heard the unmistakable sounds of a fight; the sounds of growls from a few werewolves and the clinking of swords from the Oni, causing the three to run toward the noise, hoping to help before it was too late.

They came to a stop near the main stairs, looking down at the tunnel that lead to the athletic fields. They saw Derek, Aiden and Ethan fighting some Oni; who were quickly wearing them down, just like it did the others before.

They saw one Oni twirl his sword over his head, planning to bring it down and slice into Derek, but before the Oni could make a move, Chris raised the crossbow and fired off an arrow.

The twins and Derek, watched the arrow pierce the Oni in the chest. They were surprised when they saw a bright light emanating from the Oni before he burst into a puff of black smoke.

"What was that?" Ethan asked surprised, as he looked up at Chris.

"Silver." Chris answered, as Teagan and Isaac stepped up on the ledge beside him.

Isaac gave Teagan's hand one last squeeze before jumping off the edge, doing a flip and landing down below with others. Teagan saw an Oni raise his sword as he planned to walk over to Isaac but before he could take a step, she loaded an arrow and pulled the string back, sending an arrow flying toward the Oni and hitting him near his heart.

She smiled as it exploded into black smoke, saving her boyfriend. She couldn't help but think of Allison, she had a feeling she was smiling down on them as well.

Isaac glanced behind him, a grin on his face, as he look at his girlfriend. He already knew she was a badass, but always felt proud inside when he got to watch it happen right in front of him.

From the corner of his eye, Derek saw the Nogitsune run off, heading for inside the school; where they assumed the others were. He looked back at them as he yelled out, "Isaac, the box. Get the triskele box to Scott!"

Isaac nodded his head at his former alpha, then glanced at Teagan one more time before he ran over to the box. He quickly scooped it up and ran toward the school building to look for Scott and the others. He never liked leaving his girlfriend behind, but he knew she could hold her own until they were reunited again.

**~()~**

Looking over Avery realized it was Deputy Parrish who'd pulled her behind a desk with him, he looked at her with a shocked expression. The first time he'd seen the masked being raise a sword to her, he thought for sure she was dead. But he'd watched her fight back better than the officers in the station had been able to.

She didn't say anything as she stared back at him, their eyes meeting briefly as she breathed heavily from the fight and staring death in the face. As scared as she was for everyone in the building, including herself a part of her had also never felt so alive, a feeling dangerously close to what she felt in the fight against her mother. Her head spun from the rush of adrenaline rush and she started to wonder if she drew power from something, from someone if she'd be able to fight he oni better.

There were plenty of wounded men around, chances were they weren't going to survive it would be so easy to pull the last of their life force from them. But almost as quickly as the though crossed her mind, she was appalled at herself. She'd been fighting so hard to not dip into the darkness, each time she did it seemed to take over her life little by little, how much longer until it completely swallowed her up?

"Stay behind me." He ordered as he protectively put an arm in front of her and pushed her behind him, trying to keep her safe.

She watched as he continually fired shot after shot at their approaching threat, each bullet causing it to pause for a brief second before continuing it's unrelenting pace at them.

"What are you doing, keep shooting!" Avery demanded when she noticed the gunshots stopped.

"I'm trying!" He yelled back, frustrated as he clip jammed and he had to hurry and get another from his belt.

"Avery, stop!" He shouted as she stood up, she fully intending to fight keep it back away from him as his fingers clumsily tried to eject one clip and load the next one, now his concern was solely for the blonde teenager putting herself in imminent danger.

They both looked over as the sheriff yelled, "Avery!" before tossing a shot gun to her, which she effortlessly caught, cocked, and fire a shot in the direct center of the oni's chest, sending it backwards from the impact.

Standing up Parrish looked between them as the sheriff came closer with a shotgun of his own, "Sir?" Parrish breathed motioning to Avery who fired another at the oni, again hitting her target with ease.

In his mind, they were supposed to be trying to protect the teenager, not giving her a weapon.

As Parrish started to fire on the masked intruder again the sheriff pointed out, "You're gonna need a bigger gun." As he fired a shot, also hitting the other oni.

Suddenly she saw a few more policeman jump up from behind the desks they were hiding at but all of their gunfire was useless. The moment they'd get one knocked down, the other would move in closer.

Blood sprayed the room and pained cries rang out as the oni easily overpowered and brought them down one by one.

As one turned it's attention in Parrish, the sheriff yelled, "Go!" As he pushed the young deputy out of harm's way and towards the door the office, where Avery was fighting off the other one, using the gun to block the oncoming impacts from the blade, which sparked as it collided with the metal barrel again and again.

Deputy Parrish rushed to her aid, as helped fight their way past the oni but once it was back on it's feet it swing it's sword at Avery, but Parrish pushed her out of the way and yelled out in pain as the sharp blade sliced into this side.

"Jordan!" She shrieked, terrified for him, but he pushed her out of the room and ran after her, both of them believing the sheriff was right behind them but it wasn't until they were in the room across the hall and Parrish collapsed against a desk that they both realized they were alone.

"Where's Stilinski?" the deputy asked in a pained voice as he held onto his heavily bleeding side.

"I thought he was behind us…" She admitted, her voice trailing off as she saw the oni through the open door of the room.

"Avery…" He winched as he tried to stay standing, despite the fact that his entire body felt like it was on fire.

She looked down to the shot gun in her hand, knowing she was out of bullets and had nothing to stop the demon from closing in on them.

"You need to get out of here, run." He instructed her, as his legs gave way and he slowly slid to the floor, still clutching onto his side

When she didn't respond he asked, "Do you hear me?"

"I hear you." She answered as she readjusted the gun in her hands and looked down to where he was sitting in his painful, wounded state knowing without a doubt there was no way she was leaving him for dead.

He looked up at her and their eyes locked for a few seconds before she managed to pull her gaze away, leaving him yelling after her as she walked right towards the oni and pulled the door to the room shut behind her.

Yelling out in pain he gripped onto the side of the desk to pull himself up, trying to get out to her before she got herself killed but as he raised up he was able to see through the open blinds of the windows looking out into the hallway, where to his dismay she seemed to be holding her own against the masked figure that easily towered over her by at least a few feet.

Just as his grip slid from the desk and he collapsed back onto the floor he closed his eyes and leaned his head back with a pained expression as the last thing he'd saw was the other imposing masked figure seeming to appear out of nowhere from behind her, and the sound of her scream still echoed through his ringing ears.

Through the devastating and haunting sounds repeating in Parrish's head along with the image of the Oni swinging it's sword at Avery, he could just barely hear the door to the room creak open.

Mustering all the strength he could, he reached beside him and picked up his police issued handgun, but when he opened his eyes a look of relief flooded over his face as Avery leaned against the now open door frame.

"You're alive!" He exclaimed laying the gun back down and leaning his head back against the desk.

"Yeah…" She said through gritted teeth as her entire side and back felt like acid was being poured on it, if she didn't know better –she'd have bet money that her flesh was literally melting off.

Wincing with every step she took she made it over to where he was and dropped beside him, breathing heavily from the pain and exhaustion.

"Did they just leave?" He finally asked.

She nodded and blinked back tears of pain as she hoped they'd make it through whatever was happening to them, survive whatever kind of poison that had gotten into their wounds.

"You… you put up a hell of a fight. That was amazing." He said as he continued to watch her.

With a weak half smile she reminded him of an earlier conversation they'd had, "I told you I happen to possess an elite set of skills."

"No kidding…" He breathed shaking his head as he remembered watching her fight the masked figures moments before.

Trying to block out the excruciating pain from her deep wound she let out a small laugh and said, "Jordan…"

"Yeah?"

"If we make it out of this thing alive… you so owe me dinner. I'm not going to have the last date I was on be one that I picked up the tab for."

Managing a weak smile at the breakfast they'd shared months ago he said, "That wasn't a date…"

"It was to." She argued for a split second forgetting about the pain until she tried to scoot on the floor.

"You're… 16." He reminded her but the truth was he was always having to remind himself that she was a teenager, because he'd never really viewed her as one.

Rolling her eyes she weakly said, "We just literally risked out lives for one another, I think you owe me at least one day where you don't bring up our age difference, not even once."

"Deal."

**~()~**

The remaining two Oni began to go after Derek and the twins again. Derek spun around one of the Oni, then grabbed on to him and holding him in place as Chris fired off his last arrow, getting him in the chest. Teagan loaded her last arrow, then fired off the shot toward the last Oni.

She gasp in surprise, when he sliced it with his sword, causing it to fall on to the ground in two pieces. She glanced over to the closest person who happened to be Aiden.

"Aiden, get the arrow! It's the last one!" Teagan yelled over at the werewolf.

Aiden nodded his head, as he ran over toward the Oni. He slid across the slick pavement, barely missing the Oni's sword, as he grabbed the part of the arrow that had the silver arrowhead on the end. He quickly stood up then stabbed the Oni, watching him burst into a cloud of smoke.

Teagan smiled, as she lowered the bow, seeing that they had done it. They stopped the Oni, at least they had won this war. The victory was short-lived though, when she heard Ethan yell out for his brother, then saw a sword sticking out of Aiden. He had been stabbed by an Oni, just like Allison had.

"No." Teagan breathed out. This wasn't supposed to happen again. They weren't supposed to lose Allison and they definitely weren't supposed to lose anyone else. They were supposed to win, they were supposed to be okay.

Teagan and Chris laid their weapons on the ground and then ran over to the stairs, making their way down to the ground level where the others were. They came to a step beside Derek; all three were now looking down at Ethan, who was holding his brother in his arms both had tears running down their faces.

"Does it hurt you as much as it hurts me?" Aiden asked, as blood poured out of his mouth.

"Yeah." Ethan breathed out, as he laid his head against his brothers.

"It's okay." Aiden choked out, as he tried to breathe in between the pain. "Lydia never believed I was one of the good guys anyway."

"She'll believe me." Teagan spoke up. She would make sure Lydia knew Aiden fought till the end and went out as one of the good ones. She squatted down beside him, as she softly said, "I'll make sure she knows exactly what you did, Aiden. I'll tell her everything, I promise."

Aiden turned his head to look at Teagan, as he nodded his head with tears in his eyes. She grabbed one of his hands, giving it a small squeeze as she apologized to him. She couldn't help but feel guilty. She was the one to tell him to grab the arrow. He tried to squeeze her hand back, telling her it was okay.

She was never that close to either twin, not after finding out their pack was responsible for the death of her mother. They were also responsible for holding Avery captured all summer, harming her boyfriend, killing Boyd and Erica, as well as numerous other horrible things but she also couldn't ignore some of the good they had done recently. It didn't make up for everything, but she could tell they were trying. All they wanted was what any of them wanted; to live, to survive.

After losing Allison, they all felt like something was missing now, a piece of them was gone, and now Ethan would have to live the rest of his life without his other half, the other piece of him was gone. He didn't even know if he could survive without his twin brother.

Ethan continued to hold his brother until he heard his heart stop beating, causing him to let out a quiet sob, as he slowly lowered him toward the ground. Teagan reached out with her other hand, grabbing Ethan's hand hoping to give him a little bit of comfort.

As he glanced up to look at her, she whispered out a apology to him, knowing how badly he was hurting. She knew how it felt to lose a family member; she would never forget the day a cop knocked on their door, informing her and her father that her mother was gone and was never coming back. That day was one of the worst days of her life, although it was now tied with the past few days; they'd all lost too much.

Teagan stood up from the ground and turned to look at Chris and Derek; they all wore identical expressions. All three could relate to what Ethan was feeling, as they thought about a missing loved one.

She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, she heard the sound of running footsteps coming toward them, followed by Isaac frantically yelling out her name. She turned to face him, seeing a fearful look on his face. She walked away from the others, meeting him half way, she tried to ask him what was wrong, but before she could utter a word, he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly against him.

Isaac ran a hand up her back, cradling the back of her head as he closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh of relief. After defeating the Nogitsune, then capturing the fly inside the triskele box. He saw a look of panic appear on Lydia's face, as she looked over at the doors that led outside. She was having one of her feelings, one of her horrible feelings that meant death was coming. Someone outside wasn't going to make it.

He didn't wait for the rest of them as he made a mad dash for the door, trying to get outside to get to her. He had to believe she was okay but he also needed to see with his own eyes that she was okay, before he could breathe again.

Isaac pulled back to look at her, as he laid his hands on either side of her face. He blew out a nervous breath, before leaning forward and pressing his lips against hers for a greedy kiss. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against him, desperately needing to feel her against him.

"I'm okay." Teagan breathed out, as she rested her forehead against his for a moment. "I'm okay." She repeated, as she pulled back to look at him, knowing he was worried about her. She didn't have to be a werewolf to know his heart was beating out of his chest, she could feel it as he held her close.

"I saw... Lydia knew something was wrong and I just... all I could think about was..."

"It's okay." Teagan said, interrupting him. She laid a hand on the side of his face as she said, "I'm not going anywhere, remember? I've been promised a lifetime of being loved by you, I'm not going to miss that. I wouldn't miss that for anything."

Isaac smiled at her words, as he gave her another kiss, a more gentle one this time. He took a deep breath, slowly releasing it, before saying, "It's you and me."

"Always." Teagan whispered back.

Isaac pulled her back toward him, hugging her as he glanced over at the others. Seeing Aiden laying on the ground, then looked over at Ethan, giving him a short nod to say he was sorry for his loss. He too had lost a brother once, as well as his parents. He couldn't help but think how tragic it was that all of them could relate. Most of his friends had lost at least one family member and they all have lost friends.

Hearing more footsteps approach, Teagan pulled back, seeing Lydia standing there as she stared at Aiden with a heartbroken look on her face before turning to Stiles, who pulled her against him, holding her tight.

As Scott and Kira walked up to stand beside Stiles and Lydia, he glanced around at the others. He saw Chris and Derek standing beside Ethan, who was holding his brother's body again. A pained look appeared on his face, he felt bad for the former alphas.

He was glad they were able to stop the Nogitsune and save his best friend, but he never wanted anyone to lose their lives, he wanted all of them to come out on top, to win this war together but now two of them were gone and nothing could bring them back.

Scott looked over at Teagan and Isaac, seeing the couple holding each other close then glanced around at his other friends for a moment. When he realized someone was missing, he looked back over at Teagan, making his way toward the couple.

"Hey…" He began to say, getting their attention.

"Hi, Scott." Teagan said with a smile, happy to see he was alright.

"Where's Avery?" Scott questioned. He had assumed that Avery was with Teagan this whole time.

"She got held up at the station by your dad earlier." Teagan answered. She opened her mouth to say something else, until she saw the look on Scott's face causing her to ask him what was wrong.

"The station was attacked, by the oni." Scott said, remembering that the Nogitsune told them the oni were at the hospital, police station and animal clinic.

"What?" Teagan breathed out, as she pulled away from Isaac. "But, no, she-she was safe. She was supposed to be safe there." She added, feeling her heart race as she began to panic for her best friend.

"Babe, calm down. I'm sure she's okay." Isaac said, as he reached out for her, trying to calm her down.

"I gotta- I gotta call her." Teagan mumbled, as she pulled her cell phone out. Her hands were shaking so bad she could barely make the call, but once she finally hit the button to call her best friend's phone, she placed the phone against her ear, then silently cursed when nothing happened.

She pulled the phone away, glanced down to see she didn't have a signal. Without a word, she turned to walk away, until Isaac grabbed her hand, asking her where she was going.

"I have to find a phone and call her. I have to talk to her." Teagan stated, as she pointed toward the school. "I have to know she is okay." She softly added.

Without another word, she ran inside the building, trying to locate a phone. As she rushed down the hall, feeling like her whole world had slowed down, she felt tears fill her eyes as every bad scenario crossed her mind. She had already lost one friend, she couldn't lose another one. She couldn't lose the girl who was like a sister to her, the one who was always by her side. All she could think was –she couldn't lose Avery too.

**~()~**

The room fell silent again and provided no distraction from the pain Parrish was in, he started to pull his uniform shirt from his pants but stopped when realized something else concerned him more than his own injury.

"They got you too, didn't they?" He realized outside, closing his eyes for a moment as the sound of her pained scream was still haunting him

"They barely scratched me." Avery lied, but saw the disbelief in his eyes.

"Where at?"

"My back…" She admitted to him, her eyes falling to the linoleum floor.

She sighed and shook her head back and forth when he asked to see her wound, she knew it was far more than just a scratch but she was more worried about his injury than hers.

Finally she slowly scooted on the floor, pulling her back to him and closed her eyes as she felt him start to lift up the bottom of her shirt, revealing her smooth back.

Her eyes opened and she looked down to her stomach when a fluttering feeling erupted in response to his touch as he held her shirt up to get a better look at her injury.

His heart sank and he blew out a heavy breath as he said, "That's far more than some little scratch."

Turning around she raised up on her knees as she moved the edge of his shirt up, revealing a deep gash across the side of the muscled planes of his stomach. Leaning forward some to get a better look she hovered over him as she whispered, "This… this looks really bad, Jordan."

Her eyes frantically moved back and forth as she realized for the first time how much blood had soaked through his uniform.

When he didn't respond to her telling him how bad the wound was, she raised her head to face him as she asked if he'd heard her.

But instead of a look of fear like she'd expected, she was met by an almost calm look on his face as his green eyes now bore into hers. He wasn't aware of the excruciating pain anymore, the only thing he was aware of was exactly how close their faces were and the subtle warm notes of her perfume that laced the air around him.

Her breath halted in her throat as she stared back at him, all of their surroundings melted away the longer they're eyes were locked in a heavy stare his face became the center of her world and in the moment nothing else mattered.

Her eyes drifted down to his chest as she wondered if she was the only one unable to breathe, but when her eyes moved back up she saw his eyes were focused on her lips. Reaching up a hand he moved her hair out of her face, trailing his fingers down the side of her face as he moved his hand back farther, his fingers sliding between her soft, blonde locks as his thumb rubbed over her smooth cheek.

Feeling both of her lips tremble slightly, she ran her tongue over bottom lip feeling like her heart stopped from the way looked at her. It would be so easy, she thought, to just lean in a little closer until their lips met. But she couldn't bring herself to make the move.

She'd kissed plenty of guys, in truth –far more than she'd care to admit. But she'd never been nervous to kiss anyone, until now. It was like somehow in the back of her mind she knew this moment could change everything and her walls were already crumbling down around her.

"W–what… what are you doing?" She asked, her voice so quiet he could barely hear her.

His eyes move from her lips back to her eyes as he whispered back, "I'm going to kiss you."

Her mouth immediately felt as dry as the Sahara Desert in response to his words, as he started to pull her face closer to his, the seconds felt like hours and in a helpless tone she breathed the same excuse he always gave her, "I don't think that's such a good idea…"

Raising his other hand and moving the hair from the other side of her face he agreed, "Probably the worst idea I've ever had."

Her eyes slowly closed at the feeling of his fingertips brushing over her skin and for the both of them time stood still.

With her eyes still closed she started to pulled back from his touch but after tucking her hair behind her ear, her held onto the sides of her face and whispered, "But I'm going to do it anyways…"

Before she had a chance to argue or say anything at all, he pulled her face to his, capturing her still trembling lips in a kiss that knocked the world completely off it's axis. She melted into the moment with him, as he was totally entranced with her. Everything about her from the feeling of her skin under his hands, to the sweet taste of her mouth drew him in –he was entirely absorbed in her.

A feeling she knew all too well as she reached up, clutching onto his hands that were still resting on the sides of her face. Just like she feared, the moment their lips met, everything changed. The floor bottomed out beneath her and she was falling faster than humanly possible, crashing and burning all at once; she'd never been so scared in her entire life.

When their mouths finally separated, neither of them had the strength or the will to move back. They stayed with their lips barely touching, both of them breathing in each other's air, with matching astonished expressions and racing hearts.

Despite the physical pain she was in, she sat back down on the floor and scooted back beside him against the desk he was leaned against.

Her lips hung slightly open, the taste of his kiss still lingered on her tongue as she leaned her head back against the desk, now fully coherent and painfully aware of the poison spreading through her body from the badly bleeding gash on her back. She pinned her eyes shut and let out a small pained noise as she dropped her arms to either side of her.

Deputy Parrish looked over at her and frowned at how pale and weak she looked not to mention he knew first-hand the amount of excruciating pain she was in. Knowing there was nothing he could say to help her, he reached his hand over and held onto hers. As his fingers laced with hers she looked over at him with an unsure expression but she couldn't deny even that even the small gesture provided more comfort than she expected.

"Thank god you're both okay." The sheriff said as he stumbled into the room and started towards them.

Just as quickly as his touch had calmed her, the feeling was ripped away as Parrish quickly let go of her hand before the sheriff could see them. Her eyebrows furrowed and she wrapped her arms around herself, feeling colder by the second from no longer touching him.

"Have you seen anymore of them?" He asked the higher ranking officer.

"No, not for a while." He admitted.

"I don't get it… why'd they let us live?" The deputy questioned, glancing over at Avery for a second and frowning at her unnaturally pale face.

Looking down to his wounded arm where a black smoke was seeping from his own wound, the sheriff said, "I'm not so sure they are letting us live."

The room was silent other then the sounds of labored breathing and pained moans from not only them, but several wounded officers littering the floor.

Several minutes of agony passed and the sheriff looked over to see the young deputy with his head back and eyes closed, "Parrish, keep your eyes open" He said.

Seeing he didn't respond Avery scooted up against him and grabbed his arm as she weakly stuttered out, "Jordan…"

"Deputy!"

Snapping back at the sound of the sheriff yelling for him, he looked down to where Avery had a hold of his arm and was staring at him with slightly bloodshot eyes with a look of terror in them.

"Keep your eyes open." She repeated what he'd been told as she let go of him and he raised the side of his uniform shirt, to reveal his own wound.

"What is this… poison?" He asked, wincing.

"Whatever it is… it's working fast." The sheriff said as he wiped sweat from his forehead and looked back down to his wounded arm.

The seconds felt like hours as time dragged on, leaving them all weaker and closer to death with every passing moment. Just when it felt like they wouldn't last another second, the burning pain stopped and their strength slowly regained.

"Are you okay?" Parrish asked looking over to where Avery was looking around shocked by the sudden change.

"I think so…" She admitted as she watched him stand up and then let him pull her up to her feet.

As he turned to help the sheriff up, Avery put her hands on the desk she sighed in relief, thinking that somehow her friends had done it again, managed to save the day when all the odds were stacked up against them. She just hoped they'd all managed to survive too.

**~()~**

"Hey…" Deputy Parrish said as he found Avery in the bloody lobby of the police station staring at a puddle of blood on the floor just outside of the holding cell she'd been in.

Her eyes widened at the sound of his voice and without even thinking her hand raised and she touched her bottom lip, remembering the feeling she'd gotten when they'd kissed.

He silently watched as the coroner's office wheeled another sheet covered corpse from the building, but when she didn't turn around he took a step forward and asked, "Avery?"

Slowly she turned around, and faced him. His eyes moved back and forth over her soft facial features, she had some blood smeared across her cheek that he was pretty sure came from his hand when he'd kissed her.

At that thought his eyes slowly traveled down her face to her lips and he swallowed hard at the memory of how it felt to kiss her. Logically, and from a legal standpoint what had happened between them was wrong. But even knowing that, he couldn't deny how strongly he felt for her and even though it was wrong kissing her –it felt right.

Her eyes lingered on his lips for a moment as her mind raced trying to think of something to say. She hated the silence, and normally she always had something to say to break it but she couldn't think of anything to say to him.

What could she possibly say? That kiss, the moment they'd shared together had turned her entire world upside down and she wasn't sure how to feel anymore. Especially when he'd kept shooting her down.

"So, uh…" She stuttered out, then pinned her eyes shut and sighed, not understanding what was happening to her as her stomach erupted in flutters again.

"Avery…" He said quietly as he took a step forward and started to say, "Look, what happened back there… between us…"

But she cut him off as she quickly said, "It's okay, I get it."

"You get it?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nodding, she tried to appear like her knees weren't shaking as she prepared herself for what he might say and tried to make the situation less painful on her as she said, "Yeah, I get it… it was just one of those things, not a big deal. You thought we were dying, it's fine."

Her words sounded emotionless and confident but she couldn't hide the slightly pained look in her eyes before she looked down to the floor.

He glanced around, making sure they were alone before he asked, "You think that's why I kissed you, because it didn't look like we were ever going to make it out of that room?"

Her gaze slowly lifted some and her brows furrowed at the surprised look on his face as the corner of her mouth twitched as she fought back a smile asked, "If that wasn't the reason, that means you kissed me because…"

Her voice trailed off as he started to nod his head and quietly admitted to her, "I kissed you because I wanted too."

Her stomach fluttered and she wiped her sweaty palms on her clothes, not sure why she kept having those reactions around him. She was always in control of everything but when he was around the way she responded to him was out of her control.

She opened her mouth to speak, not sure what she was going to say but knowing she needed to say something back to him, but before she could the sheriff walked through with his freshly bandaged arm as he paused and asked Avery if she'd heard from any of her friends, mainly Stiles.

"None of my calls are going through." She explained with a worried expression and slightly shaky voice.

Parrish spoke up, saying that with everything happening around town that day, the cell towers were likely jammed up.

"Do you know where they were going?" The sheriff questioned the teenager.

She nodded.

He looked around, "Alright, I need to talk to someone and then we'll go, okay?"

"Thank you." Avery said with a smile. The only thing in that moment that could make her feel better would be seeing all of her friends, knowing that everyone had survived this latest attack. After losing Allison she didn't think there was any way she could handle anyone else she cared about dying.

As the sheriff left them alone, Deputy Parrish ran a hand over the back of his head and thought that asking her not to tell anyone what happened sounded bad, after all he knew he shouldn't have kissed her in the first place.

But there was no going back now, he couldn't undo what had happened and if he was being entirely honest with himself he wouldn't take it back. She was so different from anyone he'd ever met and for months she'd been on his mind, the feeling he'd got when he kissed her was unlike anything he'd felt before.

Seeing the look on his face she realized what he was worried about and she took a small step closer as she whispered, "Don't worry, it will be our little secret, Deputy Parrish."

His eyes searched her face and he felt as guilty for asking that of her but he aslo felt relieved at her understanding no one else could know about the kiss.

Walking a fast pace through the room Sheriff Stilinski called out for Avery to follow him. Her gaze lingered on the young deputy for a few seconds longer before she turned and left.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN – Just 3 more chapters left! ^_^ Miss E Charlotte and I really hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	39. Where Do We Go From Here?

**Chapter 39 - Where Do We Go From Here?**

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><p>"Dad?" Stiles asked surprised as he saw his dad and Avery heading up the walkway to the school.<p>

With a smile his dad rushed towards him and pulled him in for a hug as he asked, "Please tell me this is all over."

Returning the warm embrace, Stiles let out a relieved breath as he admitted, "It's over… we won."

Avery smiled at the duo as she walked past them closer to the school where she saw Lydia sitting the steps with her head in her hands and Kira sitting next to her. Isaac was standing not too far away from them messing with his cellphone and Scott was facing the beta with his back to Avery.

Her eyes traveled over to where she saw one of the twins lying motionless on the ground and the other sitting near his body, obviously upset.

Her light brown eyes traveled back to her distraught red headed friend and she knew the one who'd lost his life was Aiden, and even though there was no love lost between the two of them. A small part of her was still sad to see him go, both brothers had been fighting on their side for months, she'd accepted them in as part of the pack.

Her heart picked up pace as she thought of how close they'd all came to dying that day.

Picking up a familiar scent Derek raised his head from where he was standing near Ethan and saw Avery, across the short distance their eyes met and he gave a small a nod, letting her know he was okay. Silently she nodded back with a weak half smile.

"Avery!" Hearing her friend's voice she looked up to see Lydia heading towards her.

"Thank god you're okay." She said with a quivering chin as she wrapped her in a tight hug and admitted, "The nogitsune said the oni had been to the police station and no one could get a hold of you.

Silently Avery pinned her eyes shut as she hugged her back, then cleared her throat and whispered, "I'm sorry about Aiden."

She felt her friend's body tense in her arms, but she didn't say anything as she stepped back wiped her eyes again.

Raising her hand she waved at Scott who'd spotted her and then looked to Isaac who was walking their way, with a somber look on his face.

Avery started to say she was glad her friends were okay but then she realized the person she'd wanted to see the most was nowhere in sight.

Frantically she whipped her head back and forth looking for any trace of the brunette, but there wasn't any.

"No…" She whispered under her breath as her heart started to race from fear.

Isaac gave her a confused look for a moment then his eyes widened and he said with a smile, "She's fine, A."

"Where is she?" Avery demanded to know taking a step forward, but her question was answered when she heard her friend's voice.

"I tried the call from the landline but I can't get her phone, and when I called 911 and said I need to be connected to the sheriff's office they hung up on me." She loudly exclaimed with a frustrated groan, "911 hung up on me!"

As Isaac and Lydia both stepped to the sides, Avery finally got the proof she needed to be able to let out the breath she'd been holding. She was okay.

"Teagan!" Avery exclaimed as she smiled at her with watery eyes.

Her gaze snapped up from where she'd been trying desperately to get a text to send on her phone, breathing a sigh of relief she cracked a smile and ran forward nearly knocking Avery down as she pulled her in for a hug.

"Thank god." The blonde whispered as she clutched onto her and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm her nerves.

Teagan squeezed her tighter as she thought of everyone meeting back up and them telling her that the nogitsune had sent his oni to the hospital, the animal clinic and the police station; anyone who'd been touched by oni blade was put in mortal danger.

"I kept trying to call you but…" She said her voice a little hoarse as she finally stepped back from the hug.

"I know. " Avery nodded, "I kept trying to call you too, but the cell towers are all jammed up or something."

"Are you okay?" Avery asked looking her best friend over.

Teagan nodded, "A little bruised and exhausted, but I'm okay…" Her voice trailed off as she saw the blood smeared on her friends face and she let out a small gasp as she leaned in closer and exclaimed, "You've got blood on your face!"

Avery's hand instinctively went to her face and she realized it must be Parrish's blood, that his hand was bloody from holding onto his wounded side.

"It's not my blood…" She admitted.

Teagan gasped and started to ask about what happened, but before she could ask anymore questions Avery explained, "The oni showed up and we all got injured, there was some sort of poison from their blades… I'm not sure what it was, but it worked fast and it hurt like hell."

Tears stung Teagan's eyes as she thought of Avery sitting alone at the police station in agonizing pain thinking she was dying.

"But then all of a sudden it just stopped, all of it stopped." Avery said as she looked around at her friends and saw Stiles and his dead walking closer to the group, with a proud but tired smile she said, "You guys did it, you saved all of us."

A proud smile fell over Teagan's lips but a few tears left trails down her cheeks as she admitted, "It's because of Allison, she's the one who figured it out."

Her voice grew too hoarse to finish her explanation, and Isaac pulled her against his side, keeping a protective arm around her as he helped her to explain, "Silver is like poison to the oni… with a bullet it goes right through."

Clearing her throat, Teagan leaned against his side and rested a hand on his chest letting him she know she wanted to tell her, "With an arrow head, they can't get it out in time… it's the only thing that can kill them."

Avery nodded blinking back tears of her own and letting a numbness fall back over her. She wasn't ready to break down, not ready handle the huge loss she and all of her friends had suffered, she wasn't sure she'd ever be ready to face losing Allison.

When she finally pulled herself from her thoughts she looked around, seeing Isaac sitting on the stairs with Teagan on lap snuggled against his body with her head resting at the crook of his neck. Kira was standing behind them talking to Scott.

Stiles and Lydia sat a few stairs lower them staring down to the cement, still obviously upset from everything that had happened as he kept an arm around her, trying to comfort her.

The sheriff, Chris Argent and Derek were standing off to the side talking. She started for her friends, but then stopped as her attention was drawn over to where Ethan was still crouched beside his brother's body.

Silently, Avery walked over and rested a hand on Ethan's shoulder. Slowly he turned his head and looked up at her with water eyes and a surprised expression as he shrugged her hand off and stood up asking, "What are you doing?"

It hadn't been that long before Avery got there that his brother had taken his last breath as dying a slow, painful death from being stabbed by the oni's sword.

Swallowing hard her eyes fell to Aiden's body, where she carefully bent down and hesitated for a moment before closing his still open eyes. "For what it's worth… I'm sorry." She admitted as she stood back up and faced him.

Ethan stared at her before he hoarsely admitted, "It's not worth much coming from you –you hated him.

Her gaze fell back to the fallen twin before she reasoned, "Hate is very strong term."

"He died saving everyone you know?" He continued to explain even when she didn't comment or ask for an explanation, "We were down to one more oni and he… he killed it."

"I believe it." She softly admitted offering a small smile, but when he didn't return it she sighed, "We've all lost a lot these past few days, I know we're not friends and I certainly wasn't friends with Aiden… but we were all on the same side, and I really am sorry."

He heard her steady heart beat and knew she was telling the truth, and he slowly nodded in agreement with what she was saying, he knew it was only the day before that she'd lost one of her best friends.

Gently and carefully she raised her arm extending her hand to him, in not only a friendly gesture but also in respect, the same look was on his face as he shook hand, then watched as she silently turned and headed back to her group of friends.

**~(A few days later…)~**

It had a been a few days since they defeated the Nogitsune; Teagan, Avery and their friends were trying to piece their lives back together, but it was hard to do after losing one of their closest friends.

Scott was trying to be brave, but everywhere he looked, he saw her. The first girl he ever loved, Allison. She was everywhere, in every thought, in every memory. She was someone he would never forget. The only bright side of it all that he could see was that at least his best friend was better. He knew that is what Allison would want, for him to look on the bright side and celebrate the victories, no matter how small they were.

Another person trying to be brave was Avery. As an emissary, she had to be there for her pack, push away all horrible memories that the Nogitsune brought forward and try to forget the pain she was feeling after losing Allison, but it was getting harder and harder for her to do that. She could feel herself slipping away more every day. She would smile at her friends and lie to them; say she was okay, but deep down she wasn't.

Every time she closed her eyes, she would see it –that sword going into Allison and wish with all her might that the sword would have went into herself instead. Even on this day, the day of Allison funeral she was still wishing it was her, that it was her funeral. All she could think was it should have been her.

She was sitting on the edge of her bed; black dress on, make-up flawless, not a hair out of place with a picture frame in her hand. She glanced down at the picture; it was a picture of herself, Teagan, Lydia and Allison. It was taken the year before, during one the rare lacrosse games they all actually got to attended together.

All of their faces were smushed together, as they tried to get all four of them in the picture together; which resulted in Teagan and Allison laughing after the latter accidentally stepped on her foot trying to move in closer. Avery had her head turned to the side, the famous Dukate smile on her face, while Lydia had a slight pouty look going; which was typical for her.

Avery's eye glanced over to the blonde in the picture, she knew it was herself but it didn't feel like it was her. She didn't feel like that girl anymore. She felt like an empty shell, like some imposter who just took over this bright and carefree girl's life.

She lifted her head, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror and softly gasp when a faceless version of herself staring back. She sat the picture aside and stood up, never taking her eyes off the mirror and took a few steps toward it, toward herself; or at least the faceless version of herself.

She raised her hand, slowly moving it to the mirror. She didn't know why, but she felt like if she touched the glass, it wouldn't be glass; it would be a real person on the other side. The reflection on the other side had to be real. Maybe it was like when the Nogitsune separated itself from Stiles, maybe somehow this faceless version was another part of her and she needed to get it back to feel like herself again.

She didn't know where that crazy thought had come from thought. Lately she had a lot crazy thoughts running through her mind. To be honest… nothing made sense to her anymore.

Her hand was just inches from the glass, she was close to touching it –until there was a knock at the door. She quickly jumped back looking towards her door as she ran her hand through her hair, taking a deep breath and trying to get better control of herself.

When she heard her father call out her name from the other side of the door, she flatted down her hair and smoothed out her skirt, before walking over to the door.

"Yeah?" She questioned, as she opened the door to look at her father.

"Are you ready? We need to be leaving soon." Richard asked her. They were supposed to be meeting Teagan, her father and a few of their others friends at the Young house, before all going to the cemetery together.

"I'll be right there." Avery said, as she turned to close the door, then paused when a scent hit her nose. She turned back to look at her father, as she asked, "What is that smell?"

"Oh, I came across a candle and thought it smelled nice. What do you think?" Richard questioned.

Avery felt her heart race as the vanilla scent hit her nose again. She shook her head, as she mumbled, "Blow it out."

"Avery... What-"

"Blow it out!" Avery stated, as she walked past him. "We're going to be late." She snapped, as she made her way down the hall way. She paused for a moment, slowly turning her head to the side, catching her refection in a mirror and seeing the faceless girl staring back.

**~()~**

Teagan looked up from the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. She had just finished applying her make-up and was about to do something to her hair. She slowly shook her head, realizing how ridiculous it sounded to be worried about what to do with her hair when she was about to bury her friend. Did it really matter how her hair looked, at the end of the day Allison was gone and she wasn't coming back.

She gathered up her hair, twisting it up, then clipped it in the back, before turning and exiting her bathroom. She looked at the black dress that was hanging above her closet door. She walked over to it, reaching out to lightly touch the material. She still couldn't believe this happened, she couldn't believe that Allison was gone.

Before she could get too lost in her thoughts, she heard a knock at her door, causing her to look over her shoulders. She saw the door crack open and Isaac poke his head inside, he was dressed and ready in a suit and tie.

He softly smiled when he saw her standing there. Even in an oversized bathrobe, she was still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He walked over to her, standing behind and wrapping his arms around her. He pulled her back against his chest, giving her tender kiss on the side of her head.

"I should probably get dressed soon, huh?" Teagan questioned.

She felt him nod his head, before saying, "Yeah, some of the others are already here. We have to go soon."

"How did this happen? How did we get here?" Teagan quietly asked. "This is Allison. She was our age, she had so many hopes and dreams, and now…we're going to her funeral. How does that happen?"

"I don't know." Isaac softly said, as he kissed the side of her head. He turned her around to face him, as he laid a hand on the side of her face. "I wish I had the answers for you, babe. I wish I had the perfect words to make this okay but there's nothing that can be said, and I'm sorry for that."

Teagan looked up at him with tears filling her eyes, as she whispered, "Just tell me you love me."

"I love you. I love you so much, Teagan." Isaac whispered back, as he lightly caressed her cheek. "Come here." He softly added, as he pulled her toward him, holding her tightly against him.

The two stood still for a moment, just holding each other, until she pulled back, knowing she needed to get dressed. She grabbed the dress from the hanger, as she said, "I guess I can't put this off any longer."

She stepped inside the closet to remove her robe and slipped the dress on, as she mumbled out, "God, I hate this dress."

Isaac shook his head as he spoke up, "You're going to look beautiful, Teagan. I always loved you in that dress."

"You've never seen me in this dress." Teagan stated, as she stepped out of the closet, a pair of high heels in her hands.

"That's not true." Isaac argued, as he shook his head. He slipped his hands in the pockets of the dress pants he had on, as he continued, "You wore that dress the first day I saw you again."

"I didn't wear this to school." Teagan said, thinking he meant when they saw each other on her first day of school.

"No you didn't. First day of school you had on a pair of white pants and a purple top." Isaac stated. "But that was the second time I saw you. The first time, was at the cemetery, when you had on that dress."

"Oh." Teagan softly said, as she looked down at the dress, she didn't even realize it was the same dress she wore to bury her mother. No wonder she hated the dress and didn't feel comfortable in it. She looked back up at Isaac, as she smiled, and said, "You remember stuff that I wore over a year ago?"

"I have a great memory when it comes to you, Teagan. I remember everything, every little moment, every little memory. Every minute with you has been the greatest moment of my life and I could never forget any of it." Isaac stated, as he walked over to her.

He laid his hands on her sides, as he questioned, "Is it wrong that, one of your worst days was one of my best?" As she shook her head, he continued, "That day at the cemetery, the day you buried your mom's ashes, I know it was your worst day, but seeing you again... I thought I was dreaming. I couldn't believe you were actually there, standing in front of me and then you told me you had moved back. That was definitely one of my happy days."

Teagan softly smiled, remembering the day he was talking about. As excited as she was about moving back to town, she was nervous but seeing Isaac that day had calmed her. That day was the start of something, she just didn't know it at the time.

She wrapped her arms around him neck, as she leaned forward to press her lips against his. "All my days with you are happy days, and I wouldn't trade any of them." She whispered, as she rested her forehead against his.

"Are you ready?" Isaac asked, as he pulled back to look at her. He knew none of them were really ready for this, but he knew it was getting to close to the time they had to leave.

"No." Teagan breathed out, then added, "But we have to, right?"

Isaac nodded, as he caressed her cheek, before saying the words, he knew she needed to hear. The ones he knew would get her through this. "It's you and me, Teagan."

"It's you and me." Teagan softly said back.

She gave him a small smile then walked past him, heading for the bedroom door, glancing down and seeing the bracelet he had given her for her birthday on her wrist which her smile to widen. It reminded her of all the times he was there for her, all the times he stood by her side and never gave up on her. From that very first day at the cemetery to now, he was always there. His love getting her through anything. Being her calm in the middle of a storm.

She quickly turned around to face him, causing him to almost slam into her. He looked at her with a confused look, wonder why she stopped so suddenly. Without a word, she laid her hands on either side of his neck, then pressed her lips against his for a heated kiss.

Isaac rested a hand on the back of her neck, grinning against her lips before the two began to kiss again. He pulled back to look at her for a moment, wondering what brought that on.

Before he could ask though, she spoke up, "I really love you, you know that, right?"

"I know." Isaac said, as he nodded his head.

"It's just, so much has happened. I did and said so much to you that I wish I could take back, but through out it all -you never gave up. Not on me or on us; you always believed, even when I couldn't. Thank you for that, thank you for everything." She gave him a smile, as she softly said, "Thank you for always being my calm."

Isaac smiled at her words, as he gave her a sweet kiss. He pulled back to look at her, as he said, "We're going to be okay, Teagan. All of us are going to be okay. But just remember no matter what, I'm here for you. For the good days and the bad days."

Teagan smiled back, as she nodded her head. She grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers, before she began to walk toward the bedroom door again. She knew the day wasn't going to be easy, but having him by her side helped. Together they would get through this.

**~()~**

Several minutes later, a line of dark cars pulled into the cemetery, each one parking behind the one in front of it. One by one, all the car doors opened as everyone stepped out of the cars; everyone who was touched by Allison somehow showed up, everyone wanting a chance to tell her goodbye.

Avery stepped out of a car and glanced around, the bright sunlight in her eyes. She pulled out a dark pair of sunglasses from the small purse she was carrying and placed them on her face. She couldn't help but think about how unfair it was that it was a beautiful, sunny day, the day her friend was being buried. In her mind it should be dark, stormy and cold, the way she felt inside.

Isaac stepped out of the car next then turned to hold out his hand to help Teagan out. Once she was out of the car she turned back to face it, reaching in to pull out Allison's bow; the one that saved all of them and the one she used afterwards to help kill the rest of the Oni.

Isaac took the bow from her hands to carry it for her and then wrapped his other arm around her waist. Teagan leaned against him, then reached out to grab Avery's hand, giving it a small squeeze.

When Avery didn't even turn her head to look at her, she opened her mouth to say something to her best friend, until she heard someone call out her name. She turned around and softly smiled when she saw who was walking toward them.

"Jackson." Teagan breathed out, at seeing their old friend.

She pulled away from Isaac for a moment, to give Jackson a big hug, thanking him for coming. He explained that he couldn't stay in town for long, but he had to be there for this. He looked over at Isaac, nodding his head at him, before looking over at Avery; who was looking straight ahead, as if in a daze.

Jackson lowered his eyebrows in concern, as he said her name. When she didn't say anything back, he laid a hand on her shoulder, saying her name a little louder and finally getting her attention.

"Jackson?" Avery questioned.

"Yeah, hey, how's it going?" He questioned.

Avery flashed him a tight smile, as she said, "It's okay. Everything is okay."

Jackson nodded his head at her answer, but not buying it. At first glance, she seemed like normal Avery, but he had seen her act too many times to see right through it. He had been around her one to many times when she was falling apart, the nights when she called him drunk and out of control, to know that she was slipping away.

Feeling Jackson's eyes on her, Avery looked over at Scott and Stiles, seeing them quietly talking to each other as Scott tried to remain strong and not break down. Knowing she needed a reason to get away, she decided it was time to slip into the emissary role, she looked back over at Teagan, Isaac and Jackson, as she told them she needed to check on Scott.

They watched her walk away, then Jackson looked over at Teagan, as he asked her what was going on with Avery.

"It took a lot out of her closing the door in my head." Teagan stated, then added, "Then losing Allison on top of that. It's going to take time to get back to the way things were, for all of us."

Jackson glanced back over at Avery, as he nodded his head at her words, before saying, "Just keep an eye on her."

"Of course." Teagan said with a nod. She was already planning to do that anyways.

Everyone slowly began to walk over to the grave site, standing around Allison's coffin, as a preacher spoke about her. Trying to give the group some words of comfort and prayers.

Teagan felt tears falling down her face, as she stared at the coffin. She remembered a hallucination she had when she was being haunted by her mother; the one when she was in the morgue and saw the dead bodies of some her friends. She remembered how terrified she felt, the thought of losing one of them. She never imagined that nightmare would come true. That one day she would be staring at a coffin that held one of her close friends.

She lowered her head, a quiet sob breaking freeing and felt Isaac wrap an arm around her, pulling her close to him. He kissed the top of her head and then whispered some calming words in her ear.

Avery stood in a daze, seeing her reflection on the side of the coffin; the faceless version of herself and never noticed that someone was watching her closely. She never noticed that Parrish was standing at the edge of the crowd, watching her with a worried look on his face.

Parrish didn't plan on attending the funeral, since he didn't know Allison, he didn't want to intrude, but when the sheriff said he needed officers at the funeral, in case the carjacker showed up, he offered to go. He remembered the way she looked at the station while being questioned and after everything else that happened, he was worried about her. Something was wrong with her and he wanted her to know he was there to listen if she needed a friend.

Once the preacher was done, he invited anyone to step forward to say farewell to their friend. Several people went up, quietly speaking to Allison one last time, before walking away with tears in their eyes.

Teagan reached up to wipe the tears from her face, then looked over at Avery and grabbed her hand. She glanced over beside her, looking at Isaac, telling him she would be back. She looked back over at her best friend, squeezing her hand, getting her attention.

The two friends walked over to the coffin together, stopping to stand beside Lydia; who had just walked up to the coffin. Avery reached out with her other hand to grab Lydia's. The three girls looked down at Allison together and couldn't help but flash back to all the happy memories they shared with the girl.

All the laughs, all the jokes, the secrets and even all the drama. They had been through a lot together, but no matter what they worked things out and became stronger for it. They didn't know how they would go on without Allison.

Teagan lifted the bow, looking at it one more time, before laying it in the coffin with Allison. "Your uh, your dad said this bow should be used by someone, but no one can use it better than you. The bow was your weapon, Allison, and it should stay with you."

"There will never be anyone like you, Allison. You taught us all so much and we'll never forget it. We'll never forget you." Avery spoke up. "We will never let anyone forget that you were the one who saved us all." She softly smiled, as she quietly said, "Ally A saves the day."

Lydia softly chuckled at Avery's comment as she wiped the tears from her face. She looked down at her departed friend, as she began to say, "I still remember the first time we met. I told you right away you were my new best friend. I never had a doubt that we would become close." She glanced over at her other two friends, then back at Allison, as she continued, "That all of us would be close. We will never forget you, Allison. You will forever be a part of us. You're our hero... we love you."

Avery nodded her head in agreement, as she wrapped one arm around Lydia and her other arm around Teagan, bringing the two girls toward her, as the three huddled together.

"We love you, Allison." Teagan whispered, repeating Lydia's words. There was so much more she should say, but when she opened her mouth all that came out was a sob. She laid her head on Avery's shoulder, as the tears rained down her face. She could hear Lydia quietly crying and saw her lay her head on Avery's other shoulder.

Avery kept her head high, as she swallowed a lump in her throat. A part of her wanting to break down, just like Teagan and Lydia were, but another part of her felt so numb it was like she wasn't even there, like she was not even in control of herself. Right now, all she could do was be there for her friends. Do what she was trained to do, approach any situation clinically and unemotionally. That was the only way she would get through anything. That was the only way she could survive.

**~()~**

After speaking to a few different people, Teagan and Avery were standing off to the side, when Jackson walked over to them. He gave the two a hug, asking how they were doing. The three spoke a little back and forth until Teagan asked him if he had seen Isaac. He pointed toward the area he last saw him. She thanked him, then excused herself to search for her boyfriend.

Once she was gone, Jackson looked over at Avery, as he asked, "So, how are you really, Avery?"

"I told you I'm fine." Avery said, as she looked over at him.

"I know what you said but I also know you. We've been friends for a long time, A." Jackson pointed out.

"I will be okay." Avery said with a sigh, as she ran a hand through her hair, hoping her statement was true.

"Well just remember, I'm here for you. I wish I could hang around longer, but I can't afford losing any more time at school." He explained, "But I'm still here. Just a phone call away, remember?"

As she nodded her head, he shot her a look, before saying,"I mean it, A. You can call me anytime."

"I heard you, Jackson." Avery said.

"I know, but are you actually listening." Jackson argued back. "Look, I'm not trying to be a dick and push you, but I'm worried about you."

"We all lost Allison." Avery pointed out.

"I know, but you're the only one not dealing with it." Jackson said back. "If you feel like you can't talk to me, you can talk to someone else. But bottom line A, you need to talk to someone. One of these days you're going to have to let someone in."

**~()~**

After telling Jackson bye, Teagan was walking through a small crowd of people, looking for Isaac. She finally saw him sitting off to the side, a few feet away in front of a tombstone.

She made her way over toward him and softly smiled when he looked up at her. Without a word, he patted the ground in front of him, asking her to join him. She carefully sat down, then leaned back against his chest, feeling him wrap his arms around her. She looked at the tombstone he was sitting in front of, realizing it was his brother's, Camden.

She laid her head back, tilting it up to look at him, seeing he had tears in his eyes. She reached up to lightly caress his face and give him a small smile, as he looked down at her.

Isaac leaned down, leaving a tender kiss on her forehead, before resting his head against hers. He looked back at the tombstone, as he said,"Sorry for disappearing from you. It's just- I was missing him, so-"

"It's okay." Teagan whispered. "You don't have to explain. I get it. A day like today makes you miss everyone you have lost."

Isaac nodded his head, then looked over at the tombstone besides Camden's, his mother's tombstone. Not only was he missing his big brother, but he was missing his mother as well. Both were taken from him too soon.

"She would have loved you." He spoke up, as he continued to looked at his mother's tombstone.

"I would have loved her too." Teagan said, realizing he was talking about his mother. She tilted her head back to look at him, as she added,"I wish I could have met her. I wish I could thanked her for raising an amazing person. She would be so proud of you, Isaac."

Isaac smiled at her words, then looked back over at the tombstones, a flood of memories hitting him of his mother and brother.

While he was lost in thought, Teagan glanced over at the other tombstone, the one on the other side of his mother, the one that belongs to his father. She knew Isaac had a lot of bad memories of his father, and for good reason, but after being haunted by her mother, there was one thing she was curious about.

"Do you think you could ever forgive him?" She quietly asked, as she looked at his father's tombstone.

"I think so." Isaac answered, as he looked over at the tombstone with her. "I hope I can be that type of person who can forget and forgive. I mean, now, all I can think of is the bad, but it wasn't always like that. He wasn't always like that. It's just hard forgetting the bad sometimes and just remembering the good."

Teagan nodded her head at his words, then turned her head, looking in the direction her mother was buried. Isaac; seeing what she was looking at, asked,"Do you think you can ever forgive her?"

"I hope so." She softly said. "Like you said, sometimes it's hard forgetting the bad. I mean growing up, it was nothing but good. My mom was... She was the most loving person ever. She was so sweet and kind. She would have loved you, I know she would have. She was nothing like the woman who was haunting me. That woman was basically a monster, but it was still my mother." She took a shaky breath, as she said,"It's just so hard to actually remember her, the way she use to be and I'm scared I never will be able to again."

"Tell me about her." Isaac said, as he kissed the side of her head.

"Hmm?" Teagan asked, as she titled her head back to look at her.

"Tell me about her, anything. A good day, a good memory, just something good." Isaac suggested.

Teagan bit her bottom lip in thought, then began to smile as something hit her. "I went through this phase when I was little when I wanted to be a mermaid."

"A mermaid?" Isaac asked with a laugh.

"Yes! A mermaid." She stated. When he began to laugh again, she pointed at him, as she said,"Hey, don't laugh. You can blame Lydia for this. She was hooked on The Little Mermaid. Whenever we stayed at her grandma's house, she would read the book to us, and I always thought it would be so cool to be a mermaid." She paused for a moment, as she thought back to that time.

"So anyways.. I wanted to be a mermaid so bad. I would cry every day when I woke up and realized I didn't have a fish tail. Finally my mom made me a fish tail and bought me a little pool to play in. I would splash around for hours and she was there, for every single minute of it. She would even act out some of the scenes with me." Teagan smiled at the memory. "Those were good days."

"Tell me another one." Isaac said, as he saw the smile on her face.

With every story she told he could see the grin on her face getting bigger and her eyes began to sparkle. He wasn't sure how long they sat there, but the time didn't matter to him. He would listen to every story she wanted to tell. He would listen for however long it took to replace all her bad memories with good ones. He was determined to give her nothing but good days from this day forward.

**~(Later that night)~**

Avery sat down on her bed, scooted back against the padded headboard and sighed as she picked the bottle of expensive alcohol up off her nightstand and looked at it. Before her eyes drifted and stopped on a small compact mirror lying next to her lamp.

Setting the bottle down she picked up the mirror and opened it her heart sinking at the faceless blonde reflected in the glass.

Snapping it closed she threw it across the room where it collided with the wall above her desk, leaning forward some she ran her hands through her hair and blew out a heavy sigh looked up she saw her black cat jumping off the foot of her bed and headed towards her cracked bedroom door.

"Annabel!" Avery called out for her pet, but the cat didn't listen as she trotted on out into the hallway.

"Yeah, I don't blame you… I wouldn't want to be around me either." She quietly whispered as she threw her arm out to the side with the intention of picking up the bottle again, but stopped when her bedroom door started to open.

She looked up with a confused look, thinking to herself that her dad knew better than just to walk into her room –he always knocked first.

But as the door opened wider she realized it wasn't her dad, her forehead lined with a mix of pain and confusion as she questioned, "What are you doing here?"

Derek was silent for a moment as he looked around the large room, noticing how different things looked since the last time he was in there. It was a mess, to say the least. Clothes were strewn all over the floor and piled up in her desk chair. Her laptop wasn't even visible beneath a stack of her mom's old journals and papers. All of the picture frames were lying face down and the memory boards she'd had with pictures of herself and friends along with concert and lacrosse game tickets were on the floor facing the walls they were leaned up against. Just as he started to open his mouth he saw one of her bed sheets was over the large mirror on top of her dresser.

"What are you doing here?" Avery repeated, shifting in the bed as she looked at him expectantly.

"I came to check on you." He quietly admitted, his heart sinking with all of the negative emotions thick in the air of the room. Some of them current, some had been there a while and judging by the over flowing trashcan of take out and fast food trash he was getting the feeling Avery wasn't spending much time outside of her room anymore.

Like she'd been locking herself inside of her own personal hell.

After he'd came back to Beacon Hills and went to see her, her dad had warned him that he couldn't keep coming in and out of her life –she'd never move on, she wouldn't be able to heal if he kept that up. So that day he'd made himself a promise that he wouldn't interfere with her life anymore, after all almost every bad situation she'd been through could be linked back to him in one way or another.

He'd thought the best possible thing for her was for him to keep his distance but now seeing the broken, worn down teenager in front of him –he was starting to realize maybe separating himself from her was the worst possible thing he could have done.

"Why?" She repeated.

Turning his attention to her he questioned, "Why wouldn't I? Today was Allison's funeral…"

"I'm fine." She automatically answered with the same line she'd been feeding people all day.

"You know lying to me is pointless, right?" He argued with raised eyebrows at her failed attempt.

"Didn't you listen to my heartbeat?" She shot back at him,

"Did you forget how well I know you? I know you can regulate your heartbeat." He reminded her causing her to sigh and shake her head.

She hated being caught in a lie or having someone call her out but she'd never admit defeat.

Running her hands through her still curled hair she softly said, "I've had a really long day and I just want to be alone…" Her voice trailed off as he sat down on the bed with her, not listening to her dismissive words.

"That means go." She clarified with raised eyebrows as she motioning towards her bedroom door.

"I'm not leaving." He argued with her.

"Why not? It's something you do so well." She snapped, hoping her words would hurt him enough he'd get fed up and just leave her to wallow in her own misery.

That was how things had always worked between them, she'd snap at him –he'd get pissed and take off. Only this time he didn't budge or even appear angered. In his mind he deserved the harsh remarks.

"What are you still doing here?" She finally asked after several minutes passed in complete silence. The whole time he stared towards the window he used to sneak in and out of all the time and she shot daggers at him with her eyes.

"Do you remember our first date?" He finally asked, still watching the window.

Her brows knotted in confusion and anger as she questioned, "You mean when you used me? Only asked me out because you knew I knew about werewolves and you thought I could get through to Scott. Yeah, rings a bell."

She saw his jaw tense and she smirked, preparing herself for him to snap right back at her and storm off, but instead he blew out a heavy breath and finally turned his gaze on her as he said, "Actually, I was talking about after all of that… the first night I came in through your window?"

When she remained silent he continued with a small shrug, "We sat up all night just talking…" With a small smile he admitted, "I can't even remember half of what we talked about but…"

"Why are you bringing this up?" She asked through gritted teeth as the memories flooded her mind and her heart started to ache inside of her chest.

"Because, Avery… you were the first person I'd really talked to in six years. The first person I connected with and the only one that I trusted…" He tried to explain but she wasn't hearing it, or chose not to hear it as she swallowed hard and loudly said, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm trying to say that I've been there… that dark place where it's just easier to shut down than it is to talk to someone. I know you and…" He began but sighed heavily with anger and irritation as she cut him off yet again.

"You don't know me."

"I do too." He argued his eyebrows lowering as he spoke and she could see she was getting under his skin.

"You really don't… we were together for a quite a while and I don't think you really bothered to learn a single thing about me." She stubbornly argued crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke.

He stared at her in silence with a look of disbelief before finally asking, "Did you actually trick yourself into believing that?"

"It's not a trick." She continued her denial. Seeing he was about to say something she questioned, "What's my favorite book?"

"Are you serious?" He asked his eyes searching her face.

"See, I knew…" She started to say, but he loudly spoke over her as he said, "The Beautiful and Damned."

Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at him.

"You gonna quiz me some more?" He smugly asked, causing her to sigh and shake her head as she turned her head to the side and refused to look back at him.

"It doesn't matter…" She finally breathed, so softly he could barely hear her, "None of it matters because you didn't come back for me, remember?"

His eyes fell to the carpet on the floor of her room as she finally let slip what really had her so mad and upset with him and she had every right to be, but the truth was it had killed him to say that to her.

"I thought…" He breathed, not lifting his gaze as he spoke, "I thought it would be easier that way… better on you if you believed that. I honestly thought without me pulling you down you'd be okay. But you're not… you just keep getting worse."

He finally looked at her when he felt a shift in the air, the sadness and despair was taken over a whirlwind of anger and rage. As he looked at her she shook her head and said, "So you what? Just decided all by yourself that I was better off without you in my life?"

"Your dad said…" He began to explain to her what her dad had told him but she shook her head and silenced him as she reasoned, "I don't care what my dad said… if you knew me half as well as you claim you do, you'd know that I hate people trying to make decisions for me."

"You don't get it, do you?" He questioned, "Your life unraveled when you met me. When we first met you were happy and carefree, Avery you were full of life and then this world –my world ruined all of that for you, just like I knew it would from the beginning but… I just couldn't let you go."

Taking in a deep breath and trying to keep her emotions in check, her voice was a little hoarse as she whispered out, "I didn't want you to let go."

Raising her head she looked at him and their eyes locked as she swallowed hard. She wanted to tell him that for the moment all she wanted –all she needed was to know that he was there and she wasn't alone. Millions of thoughts raced through her mind all at once and for a moment she considered talking to him, trying to explain what was wrong with her now but then out of the corner of her eyes she saw the faceless ghost of herself pass through her room and into her bathroom.

"Avery?" Derek questioned as she blonde teen stood up and crossed her room slowly looking into her empty, large bathroom and frowning when she saw her faceless reflection in the mirror. Confirming her fears that she truly was losing her mind, she could open up and tell Derek what she was seeing but what would the point of embarrassing herself like that be? Nothing he could say was going to fix whatever was broken inside of her

Turning around she almost ran into him as he was now standing right behind her, coming to check on her after the unexplainable shift in her mood and the feeling of fear that now laced the air.

"I can't do this… not today, not today…" She mumbled as she shook her head back forth before looking up at him and said, "You need to go… all you're doing is bringing up dead memories and I can't deal with this, not in the same day that I buried one of my best friends."

Silently, he watched her. Not only listening to her heart and tuning into the emotions in the air, but also observing her facial expression and posture. Trying to decide on his next move.

"I just… I just want to go to sleep." She admitted as she tried to push past him, but he stopped her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. A warm feeling that she'd almost forgotten the feeling of, but she didn't even have the strength to raise her arms and hold onto him. All she could do was stand there like a stiff robot in his embrace

In the air, he could feel more than anything that she was exhausted and as much as he wanted to keep pushing, to show her that he knew the mistakes he'd made but that he was there now. He decided to let it go, to just let her sleep and he'd try to talk to her a few days. With that thought he leaned down pressing a small gentle kiss to the top of her head in an attempt to offer her some sort of comfort.

He couldn't see, but he loving action had caused her face to twist into an even more pained expression and tears stung her eyes. Finally stepping back, he turned and left leaving her alone in her own hell again.

Closing her eyes she refused to let any of the salty tears make their way down her cheeks as she plopped back down into her bed, turned the tv and picked the bottle of alcohol from her nightstand. Once again closing off from everyone and everything.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn ~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- First off, we would like to thank you so much sticking with us through this story and we can't believe we've only got 2 more chapters left to post. There is also a link up on my profile for a video made by my amazing collab partner Miss E Charlotte that goes along with this chapter, called 'Wait It Out'**

**Secondly, we have both been talking a lot about the future of the Blue Moon Series and where we want to see it go vs where it was headed and after much consideration and hours of talking and sorting things out we've decided to rework our original ideas for season 4. Normally we would really give this much of a spoiler away, but we wanted everyone to know that while we're so appreciative of the support you all have shown with the Avery/Parrish pairing we're going to be working back towards Avery/Derek.**

**It was a really difficult decision because we honestly love Avery with both of them and it's a double edged blade because we can't make everyone happen and putting her either with Derek or with Deputy Parrish wastes the potential of the other choice. But after sorting things out it really seems like the better choice for Avery and for the story is to get back that history that she and Derek have.**

**We apologize if we've mislead anyone, I know I've told a few people that Avery/Parrish were going to be one of the central themes in the next story and at the time I said that I honestly thought that's how it was going to be. It might be a few days before we get chapters 40 and 41 up because we need to rewrite much of them and we also have to redo everything we've already written for season 4 but we both truly feel like this is the right decision, worth all of the extra work and we hope you'll follow us to the next installment of our series 'A New Blue Moon', but if you were only reading for the Parrish/oc pairing and can't get past that to continue on. We understand and we thank you for all of the support you've shown us!**

**Miss E Charlotte said it beautifully to me yesterday, she said, "Sometimes you need someone in your life, but then they end up just being a small chapter; a footnote. But someone else is the whole story." And I think that sums it up well, we both feel like while her connection with Parrish is important… Derek is kind of her whole story, the real love story. For anyone who's been with us from the beginning you might already know that, but for anyone who hasn't read the prior stories we hope you'll give Avery and Derek a chance because they really have so much history –starting all the way back in season 1. And now that both characters have grown and matured we're really excited to see where the story takes us.**

**Thank you.**


	40. How Do We Carry On?

**Chapter 40 - How Do We Carry On?**

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><p><em>*Trigger warning* AN- It's not a very detailed account at all, but we wanted to add a trigger warning because a sexual assault is referenced in this chapter and we don't want to make anyone uncomfortable or trigger any bad memories for anyone._

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><p>Avery pulled her car to a stop on the slightly unfamiliar street; all of the houses were one level, only seeming to vary slightly in shape, color and decorations. Looking down to the text she double checked the number on one of the houses with a garage, before getting out of her car and pausing on the sidewalk for a few seconds before she walked up and knocked on the door.<p>

A few moments later the door opened and Parrish greeted her as he stepped to the side and let her in the small house.

As she walked past him, her eyes traveled to his muscles, wrapped snuggly in the dark green shirt he had on as she said, "I have to say… when I said you owed me dinner, I thought I'd at least get a phone call not just a text."

Looking down with a small laugh he said, "If I called you'd try to make it sound like it was a date…"

"Well, Deputy Parrish… you did ask me over to your house." She pointed out with a wide smile as she looked around the living room which opened into a small kitchen on the right.

"I thought you might feel more comfortable here." He admitted, watching her reaction closely as she looked over at him, but before she could ask what he was talking about there was another knock at the door.

"Our food." He answered her question without her having to ask as he started to pull his wallet from his pocket.

Smirking she arched a brow as she said, "Good, you can't have a dinner date without the dinner."

As he turned to open the door she continued farther into the house as she walked through the small living room running her fingers over the back of the dark brown couch and smiling as she stepped through the doorway into the kitchen.

The house was much smaller than the ones she was used to, there weren't any fancy decorations, the furniture all seemed slightly mix matched, but also fit together in an odd way. And just like him, the house was warm and made her feel comfortable.

**~()~**

After eating a nice dinner and making some small talk, he was getting the table cleared as she wandered back into the living room and continued to look around until she saw a wisp of blonde hair disappear down the small hallway.

"No… no… not here." She breathed as she felt her blood run cold and an eerie darkness fell over the small room, she couldn't have another nightmare, not around Parrish.

"Avery..."

"No…" She breathed as the voice beckoned her from down the hallway.

Turning around she hoped to see Parrish, she didn't want to be alone, she didn't want any of this to be happening but she hoped that somehow if she could just find him she could hold onto the present time, to her sanity. But when she turned around all there was –was darkness.

With shaky legs she walked down the small narrow hallway where there were 3 doors, one she discovered was a small linen closet. The next door she opened led into bathroom, which she ducked into and shut the door behind her, leaning against it she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

But when a familiar scent filled her nose her eyes popped open and her gaze landed on a small vanilla scented flameless candle on the counter, the vanilla scent had seemed to fill every single inch of the small room with the door closed.

Her stomach turned and a few tears slid down her face as the rest of the room faded away and all she could see was the candle. Her palms were sweaty and her mouth went dry as her heart started to race and she approached the candle and picked it up with shaky fingers.

Only it wasn't the flameless candle she'd seen moments before, it was the same type of vanilla candle that her mom used to keep in every room of their house. Delicate blue tinted glass with dark specs of real vanilla in the white candle.

Not even able to take in a breath, she dropped the candle to the floor and leaned over the sink, trying to catch her breath but all she could smell was the vanilla, all she could feel on her icy skin was the scalding hot shower she'd taken to try and wash away what happened.

She had to get out of that room, away from the candle, away from her past and away from nightmares that still haunted her.

Ever since the nogitsune had fed from her pain she'd been flooded with more and more painful memories from her past that she couldn't keep buried anymore.

Somehow stumbling through the darkness she managed to find the door and after a small, but seemingly never ending struggle she pulled the door open and rushed out only making it a few steps before she ran right into someone.

Gasping she looked up horrified, still lost in her memories until she saw Deputy Parrish looking back at her as he said, "I heard glass breaking… are you okay?"

Letting out a sigh of relief she leaned against the wall and nodded, "I'm… I'm sorry, I broke the candle in there…"

He looked as she pointed into the bathroom and he saw the busted glass from the air freshening candle on the floor, but he didn't care about it.

Facing her he gently held onto her shoulders as he quietly asked, "What happened?"

"I'm… I'm just clumsy, I'm so sorry." She lied as she pushed out of his grip and said, "Um, lets just watch some TV or something."

He stood in silence and watched as she crossed the room and sat down on the couch, picking up the remote from the coffee table. There were so many questions he had for her, so much we wanted to learned and to understand but obviously something bad had just happened to her, and if she just needed to sit in silence for a while, that's what they'd do.

**~()~**

"Teagan?" Isaac questioned, as he opened her bedroom door and poked his head in. His eyes scanned the room but didn't see her anywhere. He knew she was there though. Her car was in the drive way and he followed her heart beat to her room.

He walked further into the room, wondering if maybe she was in her closet or bathroom. He was about to search both places until he heard a small sniffle come from the bed, but all he could see was the big comfy comforter pulled all the way up to the head board.

Realizing where she was and what she was doing, he softly smiled then walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it. He reached forward, grabbing the comforter and pulled it back, revealing a depressed looking Teagan, with dried tears on her face and red rimmed eyes.

"Hi." Isaac whispered.

"Hi." Teagan softly said, as she sniffed again.

"Safety bubble?" Isaac asked, referring to why she had the comforter over her head.

Teagan nodded her head as she softly said, "But it doesn't work when you're not here."

"I'm here now." Isaac said, as he kicked his shoes off before and liad out on the bed beside her.

He pulled her toward him, wrapping his arm around her as she laid her head on his chest. He reached out, grabbed the comforter then pulled it over their heads, before asking her if that was better.

She nodded her head, as she looked up at him, before saying, "I'm glad you're here, but I thought you were helping Scott with Malia?"

Since Malia decided to try life as a teenager, the others were pitching in to help her adjust. Scott and Isaac was helping her control her shifting, Lydia was helping her with school work, and Teagan took her shopping the day before; Avery was supposed to go but bailed at the last second.

Teagan thought it was suspicious, but she knew how much it took out of Avery closing the door in her mind, then Allison's funeral a couple of days ago, so she didn't push it this time, figuring Avery just needed a few more days of rest to build up her strength. She was still going to keep an eye on her though.

The shopping trip with Malia was why she was lying in bed now. It was a nice helping Malia, and Teagan could tell she was trying to fit in, but the whole day all she could think about was Allison. Reminiscing in her mind of all the fun times and thinking about all the things they would now miss. All the plans they had but never got to do and now never would.

"I was, but then Malia mentioned while you two were shopping yesterday she could smell the sadness coming from you. Then I remembered when I talked to you last night and asked how it went you said everything went great." He explained.

"It did." Teagan stated, as she looked up at him.

Isaac pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, as he shook his head, "Maybe so, but I should have heard the pain in your voice and know that you were upset. I should have been paying attention. We've all been working so hard with Malia, trying to get her caught up but I also think we've been doing it as a distraction; a way not to think about what happened." He laid his hand on the side of her face, as he continued, "You're still grieving and that's okay but you're not alone. If you ever need to talk or need me to just lay here with you in our safety bubble, I'll be here, okay?"

"Okay." Teagan mumbled. "It's just… I knew you were going to be busy helping Scott, so-"

"Scott can handle it. He called Stiles and they're both helping Malia today." Isaac interrupted. He softly chuckled, as he added, "Poor girl."

Teagan breathed out a small chuckle at his comment, then snuggled closer to him. Just having him there, holding her helped a lot. He always had that calming effect on her.

"So what happened?" Isaac questioned after a few minutes of silence.

"I don't know. Yesterday did go well, that is true but I don't know walking in all those stores, the ones I would go to with Avery and Lydia and..."

"Allison." Isaac finished for her.

"Yeah." Teagan mumbled. "I mean, we all didn't get to shop often but I walked into this one store and I remembered the look on Allison's face when we walked into it. She loved that store. It was overwhelming cause there were so many great things in there, but she loved it. I remember Lydia would rush around the store, throwing clothes at her to try on. Then of course Avery would try to pick out clothes for me, but Lydia would tell her to stop trying to turn me into a Mini-A." She let out a soft chuckle, as she added, "Avery has a bad habit of trying to put me in leather pants for some reason."

"I have no problems with that." Isaac said with a smile. "I remember you wearing a pair at the rave that time. I had such a hard time keeping my hands to myself."

"If I remember right, you didn't keep your hands to yourself that night. You kissed me then told me we couldn't be together." Teagan pointed out, remember the time they were broken up; another bad memory for her.

"Not one of my finest moments." Isaac pointed out. "I was an idiot then, but trust me, I won't make that mistake again." He kissed the top of her head, as he softly, "I'm sorry for that. –for putting you through all of that."

"It's okay." Teagan softly said, as she looked up at him. "I know you were just trying to protect me then."

"I was." Isaac said, as he nodded his head. "But I don't need to protect you, cause my girl is a badass." He added with a smile.

Teagan chuckled, as she wiped a tear from her cheek and said, "Your girl is a mess."

"A beautiful mess." Isaac said, a smile still on his face. He leaned down to press his lips against her, before whispering, "My beautiful mess."

Teagan smiled against his lips, then pressed hers against his for a gentle kiss. The two kissed a few more times, before she pulled back and laid her head back on his chest, while he ran his fingers through her hair.

"So tell me more about yesterday." Isaac said, knowing there was more on her mind.

"Well, like I said, shopping itself was fine, I just couldn't stop thinking... thinking about all the missed shopping trips. All the things we planned and never got to do." Teagan said with a sigh. "We use to talk about having a Marilyn marathon but we never got to do that and now we never will."

"You were gonna do a what?" Isaac asked confused.

"A Marilyn marathon." Teagan said again. She looked up at him, as she continued, "You know like, Marilyn Monroe? Allison said she only saw one movie of hers, so we were going to have a sleepover; me, Avery, Lydia and Allison, and watch a ton of her movies. Avery's got like every one that she was in, she's a big Marilyn fan."

As Isaac nodded his head in understanding, she added, "We were also going to have a princess marathon and never got to do that."

"Do I even want to know what that is?" Isaac questioned with a chuckle.

"We were going to get dressed up, put on all this costume jewelry and tiaras, and watch Disney Princess movies." Teagan said with a small laugh. She covered her face, as she shook her head, then said, "God! That sounds so dorky I know. But you can blame Lydia, that one was her idea."

"It's not dorky. I'm sure that would have been fun." Isaac said, as he grabbed her hand to uncover her face. He brought her hand up to his lips, giving it a small kiss.

"Yeah, it would have been fun." Teagan quietly said. "But now..." She began to say, but didn't finish the sentence, they both knew how it ended.

"What was your idea? For all of you to do." Isaac questioned, then before she could say anything, he continued, "Wait, let me guess... It has to do with Chinese food and old movies."

Teagan lifted her head to look at him, a smile on her face, as she said, "You know me too well."

Isaac smiled back, then laid a hand on the side of her face, before saying, "I'm sorry you're going to miss all of that with her. And I know it's cliché to say, but she's still with you though. Allison will always be with you. You can still do those things, everything you all had planned, and she'll be there."

Teagan nodded her head at his words as tears filled her eyes. "It's just hard."

"I know it is." Isaac said, as he wiped the tears from her face.

"I try to tell myself that, this isn't what she would want. She wouldn't want me laying here and crying over her. She would want me, all of us, to be happy to go on with our lives. I mean she risked her life for us to keep living but how can we when a part of our lives, is now gone?"

"You take it one day at a time. One step at a time." Isaac stated. "When you feel down, do something that reminds you of the good. Do something that..."

When he paused, an idea coming to him she lowered her eyebrows in confusion, as she asked him what was wrong.

"I got an idea." Isaac said with a smile. He removed the comforter from over their heads and sat up, as he said, "I'll be back."

"Wait, where are you going?" Teagan asked, as she grabbed his arm, not wanting him to leave.

He turned to face her, laying his hands on either side of her face before leaning forward to press his lips against hers for a sweet kiss. He pulled back to look at her, as he said, "I'm not leaving you, I promise I'm not. But, just stay up here, okay? I'll come get you in a few minutes."

"What are you doing?" She asked, curious on what he had planned.

"I'm going to make my girl smile. I'm going to give her a good day." He simply said, as he gave her one more kiss, before rushing out of her room, leaving her confused on what was going on.

**~()~**

Avery stared blankly ahead, not even paying attention to what was playing on TV, memories that she'd fought so hard to keep pushed down were creeping back into her mind and no TV program was going to be a big enough distraction.

"So…" Avery said as she scooted over right next to him on the couch and purred, "What shall we do now, Deputy Parrish?" A playful expression was on her face, thinking she knew exactly what he wanted, obviously he'd invited her over to his house for one reason; to be alone with her.

Trying to ignore the effect she had on him, he turned his head to tell her the real reason he'd invited her over but before he could, her mouth was pressed against his. He knew he should pull back, but everything about her drew him in.

Smiling against his parted lips when he returned the intensity of the kiss she moved until she was straddling his lap as he sat on the couch, this was exactly what she needed, to focus on the physical sensations and not on any of her current troubles.

His hands went to her sides and she could feel him starting to pull away from her, a feeling she couldn't stand. Every time he shot her down and left her, she felt cold and alone.

Desperately, she moved her body against his, as she pulled his face closer and grazed her nails over his scalp, every ounce of her being was begging for his attention. As long as their mouths were joined and she was with him, she felt okay, even if it was only for a few seconds. She wasn't thinking about all of the bad in her life, or all the loss she'd suffered. In those moments with him she started to feel whole again.

A feeling of warmth moved over her body when his hands moved from her sides to the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her hair as he ran his tongue over her bottom lip. Reaching between them she started to grab onto his shirt but he quickly caught her hands and broke the kiss.

"We… we can't do this."

Rolling her eyes and scoffing she breathed, "Of course we can… plus you promised me a day of not bringing up our ages."

"This time, it actually has nothing to do with your age." He admitted, somehow finding the strength to move her off of his lap and onto the cushion next to him.

"Seriously?" She asked, not able to hide her shock as she pulled her wrists away from his firm, but gentle hold on her.

"I asked you to come over, because I wanted to talk to you." He admitted, watching as she started to shut down in front of his eyes.

Standing up and seeming unnaturally angered by the situation, she yelled, "You invited me over to talk? No guy invites a girl over his house to talk…"

"They do when they're worried about her… or at least I do." He admitted, as he stood up and faced her.

Her breathing was labored as she looked around, the warmth and comfort from his touch was gone and now she felt cold and broken, she needed a way to escape her pain, just one night, that was all she needed.

"I saw you at your friend's funeral… Avery, I told you before the way you hold everything in, it's not good for you." He pointed out then sighed as he continued, "It's okay to break down sometimes, you're not some emotionless robot. You're human."

"We both know neither of us really want to talk." She said, as she rushed forward, pulling his face to hers, as she pressed her body against his, begging for his attention, his kiss, his touch.

"Avery, stop it." He said, his voice muffled against her lips as he tried to turn his head, but she wouldn't stop.

He finally pushed her back and said, "You have to stop this!"

"Stop what? What's wrong with me?" She asked crossing her arms over her chest and feeling rejected; a feeling she'd never had to really face before.

Her mind was racing; thoughts going at a hundred miles per hour and she needed something else to focus on, something to distract her.

"Avery, it's clear that you have a lot going on… and I know what you're trying to do but I'm not going to be some distraction from whatever is bothering you." He admitted as he stared at her.

Rolling her eyes she said, "It's just sex…"

With raised brows he asked, "Have you ever considered maybe it's not like that for everyone, or that maybe that's a really unhealthy way to look at it?"

Her chest rose and fell heavily as she watched him and his words started to sink in but she was hearing the wrong message as she quietly breathed, "I don't get you, you kiss me… like that, and then you push me back… just tell me the truth, okay? You what… don't like me? Fine, just say it, I can take it."

Inside her mind she knew her thoughts were irrational and she sounded desperate and she'd do anything to shut her mouth and stop talking, but she was losing control –losing her grip on everything and the noise in her heard was deafening.

"You want the truth…" He breathed as he rubbed a hand over his head and said, "The truth is, it's not like I haven't thought about it, you make it impossible not to. You're unlike anyone that I've ever met before and I'm drawn to you. But you're not in a good place right now, and honestly what happened between us... it can't happen again. I didn't ask you to come over because I was going to try and get you into bed, I invited you over because I've been watching you and the way you act, it scares me. I do like you, and honestly I feel like I'm watching you slip away. I want to help you."

She remained silent as her head spun from the newly learned information until she finally managed a whisper, "You don't know what you're talking about… if you –if you only knew, you wouldn't even look at me the same way…" She said as tears burnt her eyes, and every breathe she took seemed to singe her lungs, making it painful to breath.

"I promise, there is nothing you can tell me that's going to make me look at you any differently." He assured her taking a step forward and hoping she was actually going to open up to him, be completely honest for once.

"No one knows…" Her voice cracked as she gave a defeated shrug and breathed, "I've never told anyone, not even Teagan knows."

Swallowing hard he said, "The way you throw yourself at guys… it makes me wonder if something happened to you."

He saw her chin quiver before her gaze quickly dropped back to the floor, and she wrapped her arms around herself trying to keep from entirely breaking down.

"It did, didn't it…" He breathed closing his eyes for a few seconds and wishing there was some way he could make her feel better, something he could do to ease her pain.

She knew if she told him what happened, he'd be repulsed by her, the same way she was at herself. As she opened her mouth to speak she considered for a moment that maybe that's what she was trying to do, scare him away.

"There was this guy, who lived a couple houses away from me, Wesley… he was a freshman in college, 18 -19, I don't know. But I –I was, uh, I had the biggest crush in the world on him, but he never paid any attention to me until –I was 13 and he was home from school on some break. I honestly don't remember how I even ended up at his house, but we were in the garage… alone."

Turning her back to him she took a few steps away and absent mindedly flipped through a stack of DVDs on the TV stand as she continued, "Long story short… it was my first time, and it definitely wasn't how I'd pictured it… not by a long shot."

He took a step closer but stopped as she started to open up again, "He said that he loved me… he said…"

With a burst of anger she sent the DVD cases flying across the floor as she yelled, "This is what adults do! This is what people do when they love each other and I… I was so stupid."

Avery felt his eyes on her but she couldn't bring herself to attempt to look back at him, she could only imagine the disgusted look on his face and she wanted to stop but for some reason she kept talking, trying to fill up every second of silence, "He went back to college, promised he'd call and made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone, and I didn't… except for Teagan and Lydia. But by the time I told them, I'd convinced myself that everything was fine, that what we did was okay because he really loved me…"

"What happened wasn't your fault…" He started to say, trying to comfort her but she cut him off as her gaze finally snapped to his and she harshly said, "I'm not finished."

He slowly nodded, caught off guard by her outburst.

"I hadn't heard from him in months, nothing at all and I realized he'd just used me. That I'd let him use me, and one day… I was home alone." With a bitter laugh she said, "I was always home alone, my dad was always working… somehow he always found some excuse to not be home. And Wes was back home from college again, he came over… expecting to pick right back up where we'd left off. But I was too mad, I was so mad because he'd used me once and I swore after that he'd never do that to me again. I slammed the door in his face… but stupid me, I didn't lock it."

Parrish turned in a slow circle, keeping his eyes on her as she walked over and around the couch, before leaning on it with both hands trying to catch her breath.

In the distance she could hear him saying something, trying to remind her to breathe or calm her down, she wasn't sure. In her mind she wasn't in his house anymore. She was back in her own house, in one of the spare rooms they'd used for storage, boxes and crates lined up against the walls, except for a desk in the corner of the room that her mom used to use when she was alive, she'd sit in there and write in journals by candlelight, away from the noise of the rest of the house.

"Avery?" Deputy Parrish asked as he walked over and gently laid a hand on her arm, immediately regretting it as she gasped and jumped away from his touch, finally being pulled from the room in her nightmares.

Clearing her throat she stuttered out, "He followed me into the house and I was scared, I ran from him… I ran to this room that my mom spent a lot of time in before she died, I used to always go in that room to feel close to her, and that day before he showed up I'd been in there… upset because I was in a fight with Lydia and Teagan was gone, her family moved away. Like an idiot… I thought this room where I always felt safe would somehow protect me from him, but it didn't."

His face contorted with pain as he held onto the back of the couch and watched her lean over slightly and let out a pained cry as she admitted, "He… he just wouldn't take no for an answer… and it hurt…"

She breathed wiping her tears as she whispered, "God, it hurt so bad…It hurt worse than the first time."

Wiping more of her tears she shrugged and said, "After a while, I just stopped fighting, it wasn't doing any good anyways, he was so much stronger than I was. I just looked up at the ceiling, praying he'd stop. I tried to get out of my body, I've heard people say that when something like that happens, they go somewhere else… but I couldn't… I had nowhere to go."

Putting a hand over her stomach and feeling physically sick she remembered, "My mom had these candles all over the house, these organic or handmade… I don't know, some kind of vanilla candles that had such a strong scent. And after she died, I always lit at least one, to remember her… that day I was burning the one in that room, and while he was on top of me… grunting and just…" she swallowed hard and her body shook as she cried.

"I saw the candle burning on the desk and even though it was across the room, it was all I could smell and it made me feel so sick…"

His eyes moved from hers to the hallway when he realized that's why she'd broken the air freshener from the bathroom.

"Anyways." She coughed out through some sobs as she tried to pull herself back, and get in control, "He finally finished… and he told me that, I couldn't tell anyone what happened because… if I told them they'd know, they'd know what I let him do to me and they'd see how dirty I was."

Slamming her hands against the side of her head she cried out, "That no one would ever want me!"

With the pain from the impact of her hit, she managed to hold her tears at bay as she gritted her teeth and said, "So I didn't, I never told anyone. But I broke every damn candle in that house."

"And then… I made sure that no one else could hurt me that way. I turned it around, to where I held the power. To where guys were begging for it and I was finally the one in control… so I'd never have to feel weak and used like that again." She finally explained an angry expression on her face as she thought back to everything that had happened.

It felt like her blood was boiling, like every cell of her body was on fire and what she was most aware of was that he was staring at her. But she didn't have to look up to know the look he must have on his face, the same look on her face when she looked in the mirror, complete disgust.

"I know you want me to leave now, so…" She mumbled a goodbye as she started for the door, but he quickly got in front of her as he said, "I am so sorry you went through that, Avery."

Crossing her arms over her chest she stared down at the carpet flooring, refusing to looking up at him even when he asked her to.

Gently he reached out taking her tear stained face in his hands as he made her face him, and he said, "What happened to you, that wasn't your fault… it was an act of violence and you didn't deserve to be hurt that way."

Her chin quivered again from the look of understanding in his eyes and the pained expression he had at hearing her story. All he could do was pull her against him, in a tight protective embrace. At first she tried to pull back, wanting away from him away from the comfort and understanding that she didn't think she deserved, but the longer he held onto her the more her walls came down and she finally clutched onto him, burying her face in his shirt as a new wave of tears broke free and he guided them over to the couch.

He pulled her shaking body back into his arms, and held her even tighter than before as she was now partially on his lap, still desperately clutching onto his shirt, trying to come to terms with how she'd just admitted her deepest darkest secret to him. She thought opening up was supposed to make her feel better, but it didn't. Instead, now all she could see when she closed her eyes was that candle flickering across the room while her body was taken advantage of.

**~()~**

Much later that night Avery slightly stumbled out of Deputy Parrish's house after assuring him for the hundredth time that she was okay, but it wasn't the truth. Something felt different inside of her and it took her nearly ten minutes to unlock her car with her shaky hands and dropping the keys several times.

Vaguely, she was aware of the fact that her actions weren't normal. There was a buzzing in her body, jittery from head to toe like she'd had way too many energy drinks, and her head was fuzzy.

Getting into her car she leaned back against the worn, comfortable leather seat and pulled in a deep breath. Parrish had made it clear that they couldn't go there, it was illegal and on top of everything else he pointed out she wasn't in the right state of mind to start anything.

And somewhere inside of her she knew he was right but all she was aware of now was the noise in her head and the fresh sting of rejection.

Somehow in a daze she managed to locate her phone as she scrolled through her contacts, she needed to know someone cared, anyone at all. She just needed to know that she wasn't as alone as she felt.

But she couldn't call Teagan –she was still struggling with everything her mom had forced her to do and the haunting memories of it all.

Stiles was more than likely with Malia and she didn't want to get between them, the same way as with Scott and Kira. Logically, she knew any of her friends would come running to her aide. And she almost called Lydia, but then she remembered she'd just lost Aiden and Allison.

After everything her friends had gone through and all that they'd lost she couldn't bring herself to dial any of their numbers. Just as she was starting to drop her phone in the passenger seat a thought crossed her mind and before she was even entirely sure of her actions she'd dialed Derek's number and was clutching her phone to her face trembling hands.

But every last ounce of hope she felt faded when the call rang until it went to voicemail. A solitary tear rolled her already raw cheek as she waited for the tone, not even sure what she was going to say to him in a message but once it beeped in her ear her mouth opened and she said, "I swore the last time I called you like this, it wouldn't happen again. But… I don't know what to do, and I don't have anyone else to call… there's just, so –so much noise inside of my head and I can't think straight."

Taking in a deep, raspy breath she continued on with her message, "There's just… so much noise, my thoughts are all jumbled and blurry… I don't know what's happening to me…"

Her mouth hung open as she tried to think of a better way to explain what she was feeling, but she couldn't and finally the voicemail cut her off and she sighed heavily as she ended the call and tossed her phone into the other seat.

Maybe it was for the best Derek didn't answer her call, she'd only drag him down with her. She was poison, and if he got too close she'd infect him and he'd already been through enough.

Glancing over to her phone one more time she started her car and sped off, desperately needing away from everyone and everything, she was already kicking herself for leaving Derek that desperate message and throwing herself at Parrish. She was a mess inside and she just wanted to run away, drive somewhere that no one would ever find her and hopefully if she could move fast enough –she might outrun herself too.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thank you guys for all of the support you've shown us with the story and our girls! Just one more chapter left and then we're finished with this story! ^_^ Just in case some of these scenes made you wonder –we're still putting Avery and Derek together but we're also not ignoring all of the progress that she and Parrish have made.**

**In other Blue Moon related news… up on my profile is the link to the 'A New Blue Moon' teaser video made by the amazing Miss E Charlotte, so please check it out for some glimpses into what's coming next for Teagan and Avery!**


	41. I Will Be Real Once Again

**Chapter 41 – I Will Be Real Once Again**

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><p>*Trigger warning-<em>AN – Again, it's not very detailed but this chapter contains some with mentions of self-harm and suicide. We don't to offend or upset anything so we wanted to add this little note at the beginning*_

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><p>Throwing the door open to her house and letting it slam behind her, Avery leaned against it as she breathed heavily, tears burning her eyes at the sound of hundreds of birds flying into the door.<p>

"Stop!" She shouted violently pulling on her hair as she slid down the door onto the floor with a thud, as the sickening sounds continued from the other side of the wood door.

Her hands balled into fists as she continued to scream out into the empty house, her voice bouncing off the walls and hurting her own ears. Continually beating her fists down on her legs, pain meant control… but this time she couldn't pull herself back at all.

She wasn't sure how it was even late enough for the sun to be going down outside, it felt like only moments ago that she'd left Deputy Parrish's house after trying to call Derek; apparently she'd lost hours of time that day.

Finally the sounds stopped and she looked around, not sure if she'd been dreaming or if she'd hallucinated the entire thing. With trembling legs she managed to stand up and slowly open the door, to reveal nothing but a brilliant sunset painted across the sky. Breathing a sigh of relief she closed the door, then paused when she heard a noise from down the hallway.

"Dad?" Avery asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes, and started towards his room. Things still weren't good between them but in that moment she didn't care, she just needed someone there with her.

But as she pushed open the door she didn't see anyone. "Dad?" She whispered walking farther into the room until the door behind her shut causing her to start screaming. Whatever the hell this was, a nightmare or a waking thought –it wasn't over.

Her screams were shattered by the sound of glass as birds flew into the room, swarming the entire space as they flew around, their wings sounded like thunder as more and more birds poured in from the windows until there had to at least be a thousand.

Screaming at the top of her lungs she dropped to the floor, cowering into a fetal position and trying to protect her head and face from the creatures. The terrifying experience seemed to go on for years without relief, until it finally stopped and there was nothing but silence, followed by an intense, sharp pain in her leg.

Moving she saw an arrow sticking out of her leg, confused and growing more terrified by the moment as she grabbed the arrow and with a loud groan of pain ripped the entire thing out of her leg and dropped it to the floor, before managing to somehow pull herself to her feet.

"Why didn't you save me?"

Avery's gaze snapped up to where she saw Allison in the room with her, in the same clothes she'd been killed in her face was pasty white with dark circles surrounding her red rimmed eyes.

"Allison…" Avery cried, shaking her head back and forth.

Her brunette friend looked down at herself, and Avery followed her gaze to see blood pouring from the fatal wound she'd gotten from the Oni sword.

"You… you're not real!" Avery shouted in a pained voice as tears ran down her face and she watched her best friends blood seep into the carpet under her feet.

"I was real." Allison shot back at her with venom in her voice, "I was real and so much better than you. I was trying to help save my friends, I died saving Isaac's life, and what have you done?"

Tears ran down her cheeks as she shook her head back and forth, making loud gasping noises –desperately trying to get oxygen into her lungs, but she couldn't get a breath. This was what she'd been so terrified of, exactly what her mom taunted her with in nightmares; that she couldn't save her friends and she'd been right. Avery knew it should have been her who lost her life, not Allison.

"Aww, A… look at you… you're such a mess, it's pathetic." Allison hissed nodding to Avery's arms where she'd scratched and bruised them trying to get a handle on her sanity and stay in control.

"I didn't! I –I didn't do this!" She shrieked pulling her arms back and digging her nails into her already sore flesh as she explained in broken English, "The birds… they just kept biting me!"

"Birds, what birds?" Allison taunted, her voice harsh.

As she looked at her she cried out, "They were everywhere!"

"You're out of your mind." Allison accused. Her words cutting Avery deeper than any knife could.

"It wasn't real… none of it was real." She sobbed, as she slammed the palms of her hands against her head.

She pinned her eyes shut not understanding what was happening.

With a menacing laugh Allison continued, "I think we both knew it was only a matter of time before you ended up here, completely alone. No one cares about you, no one loves you… and how could they? You're just one disaster after another… pathetic."

Raising her head she gasped and kicked backwards on the floor trying to get away as her friends face twisted into a sinister smile, as one of the Oni's iron swords was now sticking out of her chest.

"Allison… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Avery screamed as she dug her nails farther into her arms, crying out louder than before as she watched Allison pull the blade from herself and raise it like she was going to attack her.

In a panicked crawl she made it into her dad's bathroom and slammed the door, locking it behind her as she screamed, "You're not real!"

Leaning forward she rested her forehead against the wood trying to remind herself of how Allison was dead, there was no way her friend was really there but all reason flew out of the window when one of the Oni swords stabbed through the door mere inches from where her head was.

Her voice felt loud enough to break glass as it poured from her open mouth; stumbling backwards she knocked the contents of the counter off onto the floor with her as she coward against the wall.

There were so many sounds around her, Allison trying to break through the door; she could still hear the thunderous sounds of the bird wings. But the most distracting of all was that she could hear her heart beating; pumping the blood to the rest of her body and the sound made her sick, feeling the hot sticky liquid flowing through her veins, coursing through her arteries.

As she went to stand up her eyes landed on a pill bottle laying on it's side, reaching out she picked it up and read the label on her dads extra strength, prescription sleeping pills.

Silence; that was all she wanted just a few moments of silence to pull herself together. She told herself as she removed the child safety lid and poured some out in her hand.

"Just a few…" She whispered to herself, "Just a few pills… a few minutes…"

Instead of taking the pills she dropped them into the toilet, listening to each pill break the surface of the water, she counted every single pill she dropped until the whole bottle was gone a strange feeling of calmness flowing over her with each lost pill.

Looking around she realized she was somehow in her own bathroom now, a small breath of relief left her lips as she stepped out into her bedroom and realized she must have dreamt the entire thing off.

Sitting down on the side of her bed, she continued to cry as she angrily slapped her tears away and managed to find her phone where she scrolled through her contact list, stopping on the names of her friends but she couldn't bring herself to call any of them.

It was her fault, her fault that Allison was dead, she should have been able to do something to help her, somehow change what had happened. But she couldn't, instead she was forced to carry on day after day without her, when she knew inside that she didn't deserve to live. How could she call any of her friends for comfort when they had every right in the world to hate her and deny her the comfort; she hated herself.

She thought about trying Derek's number again, it had only been days since he'd showed up to check on her and now she couldn't get ahold of him. He'd made it sound like he was going to be there for her, but now she knew that apparently wasn't the case at all.

Everyone always left her in one way or another –and no matter how much she wanted to believe things might be different, the sad truth was she always had a habit of needing people more than they needed her

Her phone fell to the floor and she looked around, wrapping her arms around herself wishing she could somehow feel safe again, praying for an ounce of warmness in her cold, dead world.

Leaning off the side of her bed she looked down to the floor but frowned when her cellphone wasn't there anymore, leaning down farther she reached under the edge of her bed feeling around for the cold glass screen of her phone but it wasn't anywhere.

With a groan she threw herself off the mattress and looked under her bed, but instead of her phone she saw her cat, Annabel cowered up against the far wall.

"Annabel, it's okay…" She tried to soothe, wondering why her cat was acting so skittish.

"Is it? is anything really okay?"

Clenching her eyes shut at the voice that had haunted her nightmares for over a year, Avery said, "You're not real…" as she quickly scrambled to her feet and looked around.

Her entire room was a mess, her computer and TV where broken on the floor, the large glass mirror above her dresser was shattered, not to mention her desk was completely turned on its side, clothes had been pulled from her closet and strewn all over the large bedroom –yet the teenager had no recollection of any of it.

Throwing her head back and laughing Kate Argent said, "Of course I'm real."

She darted into her bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her as she fell to the floor and scrambled over to the space between her toilet and sink, putting her back against the wall but somehow Kate was already in the room with her, pacing back and forth as she taunted, "Do you know what my favorite subject in school was?"

Avery's bottom lip shook as she tried to find words, but she was out of them. Her voice was gone and every ounce of fight she'd had in her was burnt out, she'd never felt so hopelessly weak in her entire life. A part of her knew this wasn't real, Kate Argent was dead and this wouldn't be the first nightmare she'd had after being tortured by the late hunter.

"Science… I always loved dissecting things." Kate said as she paced back and forth in front of the broken teenager. "That feeling of opening something up, just to see what's inside… it's always been a fascination of mine."

"You see." She continued, clicking her tongue, "You know what I'm talking about, I know you do." Avery looked down to her wrist covered in two tattoos, the one she'd always wanted and the one that Stiles had picked out for her to cover her scar.

"A new beginning…" Avery whispered, her eyes stung from tears. Everything was falling apart, she never felt like she was standing on solid ground anymore. This school year was supposed to be a new beginning for her, but everything always fell apart.

"A new beginning… no sweetie. Every story has an ending, and you can't keep running. Running from your past, from me…"

The thoughts she'd been forcing down came bubbling to the surface again, the nagging feeling of blood coursing through her veins, the sickening sound of her heart pumping.

As she pried apart the plastic casing of a disposable razor that was lying under her sink, tears ran down her cheeks. And Kate continued talking, "Never moving forward means there can never be a past."

She nodded as she held up the razor blade and then looked down to her wrist again, that blood needed to come out. She had to open her skin and see what was underneath it, only then could she have the silence she needed. Only when her heart stopped beating would the blood stop running through her veins and she'd have peace.

As she pressed the sharp blade down and started to drag it over her skin, she saw blood bead to the surface and an immediate feeling of relief started to sink in. Seeing the crimson run off her arm meant less of it was inside of her and for reasons she was unsure of, she wanted more.

**~()~**

"Thank god!" Richard breathed as he saw Deputy Parrish rushing up the stairs, it had only been minutes ago that he'd put the call into the police, but the seconds had felt like hours as she tried but failed to get Avery to unlock the door to her room.

"What happened?" Parrish asked as he came to a stop outside of Avery's room. He'd been headed out of the station to go home, his shift was over, but when he heard her address over the radio he'd insisted he take the call before he rushed to her house.

Rubbing his forehead her dad said, "Our neighbor across the street called me… he said that there was screaming and crashing coming from the house, and I came home. She's… she's locked herself in her room and I don't know if she's alone or if someone is in there with her… but I can't get in there." His voice cracked and he blinked back tears as he helplessly admitted, "I can't help her… I don't know how."

The end of his sentence was cut off by a muffled pained whimper from Avery before she started screaming for someone to leave her alone.

Without a second thought, Parrish drew his gun and kicked the door open rushing into her room with Avery's dad right behind him. But once he saw the open door to the bathroom, he quickly realized he didn't need the weapon. She wasn't struggling with another person, she was struggling with her own demons.

Putting the gun back in his holster, he took a few steps closer to the bathroom, his heart sinking as he saw the plastic casing of a disposable razor on the floor in front of her and a blade in her hand.

"Avery…" He said, trying to remain calm for her.

Raising her head she stared at him with mascara running down her cheeks.

"You're okay, you're going to be okay..." He said, his voice soft but firm, slowly taking a step forward.

"No. No, I'm not." She said, despite the fact that she had the corner of a blade against her skin, her voice was almost eerily calm but tears continued to cascade down her cheeks.

"Please, put it down… stop hurting yourself." He pleaded, carefully moving a step closer.

Seeing the look on his face broke her heart but she looked down and admitted, "It doesn't hurt."

"Avery…"

Taking in a few fast, shallow breaths she said, "If I don't move forward there can't be a past!"

His voice started to shake as he said, "Just take a deep breath, and think about what you're doing. Think about everyone and everything you'll be leaving behind… you can't do this."

"I want to die…" She sobbed, her tears running off her pale face as she pinned her eyes shut.

He started to take another step forward he tried to keep calm in an attempt to not stress her out any more than she already was, but he paused and his attention was quickly drawn to the door when he heard someone running up the stairs.

"Stop!" Parrish ordered as he saw a very worried looking Derek starting into the room. He could feel the despair and pain Avery was in from outside of the house and just as he'd gotten in the door he could hear her crying and saying she wanted to die.

Coming to a stop Derek looked between the young deputy was standing in the middle of her room, slowly trying to make his way to bathroom. As Avery's dad, Richard was standing paralyzed against the wall where the flat screen tv should have been mounted if it wasn't currently broken on the floor.

Derek started to walk farther into the room, but Parrish stopped him again still trying to speak in a calm voice for Avery's sake as he pointed out, "We can't stress her anymore… she's got a razor blade in her hand."

The werewolf looked back to the bathroom, but he could already smell her blood knowing she was injured before he ever even saw the red liquid trickling off her forearm.

"I want this… I just want it all over to be, I want to die." Avery repeated, staring down to her arm not even seeming to notice that Derek was now there too.

"No you don't." Deputy Parrish argued, starting to take another step, but paused as she pushed the blade into her skin and he saw some blood come to the surface. He was now aware of a few other cuts across her forearm, but none of them deep enough to be severe.

"I do, I –I can't do this anymore… I tried, but I can't… I just want it to end. I… have to stop, if I don't move forward there can never be a past." She repeated what her hallucination of Kate had tormented her with.

As he saw her lower her head and stare down to the blade as she started to open her skin up more, he frantically called out, "Hey! Hey, look at me! Just keep looking at me!"

But she didn't raise her head as she started to push the blade deeper into her skin until Derek stepped forward, ignoring Parrish's protests as he yelled, "Avery!"

Jumping slightly she pulled the blade from her skin and looked up to see Derek slowly, but steadily making his way towards her.

Parrish looked over at him, realizing Derek was getting through to her much better than he'd been. He swallowed hard and nodded for him to keep talking to her, expecting Derek to keep a low, calm voice like he'd been doing to keep from stressing her more, but clearly Derek had a different way of handling things as he loudly ordered, "Avery, put it down."

The blonde teenager looked between Derek and Parrish with an unstable look in her eyes, like she wasn't sure either of them were really there.

"Put it down." Derek ordered again, causing Parrish to quickly say "Whatever you're going through right now, whatever it is that you think is worth ending your life over, I swear to you it's not. No problem is ever that big… and there is always a solution. You just… you have to try."

"I –I don't want to try anymore…" She admitted, her body shook from her loud, pained cries.

Derek shot the deputy a look before he took another step closer, he was only a short distance from her but it felt like a million miles standing between them.

"What about your family? Your friends… think about everyone you'll be leaving here… think about Teagan." He pleaded, Parrish's brain raced with everything he'd learned about Avery, trying to come up with anything he could to get through to her as Derek continued to step closer to the bathroom.

"I'm like poison… all I do is hurt everyone around me." She mumbled out, along with something he couldn't understand, glancing over his shoulder to her dad for help. But Richard was standing in her room, watching them seemingly paralyzed by what was happening.

"That isn't true." Derek argued, keeping his eyes on her.

"It is!" She shouted, making all three men jump from the sudden outburst.

"Avery, look at me..." He pleaded, feeling like no amount of reasoning was going to get through to her. But he felt a small glimmer of hope as she looked at him, and he continued, "Just keep looking at me, you're going to be okay… I'm here."

Tears started to stream down her face as she said, "If I don't move forward there can't be a past!"

Kneeling down beside her, Derek reached forward, holding onto the thin, sharp metal trying to keep her from applying anymore pressure and cutting too deeply.

"Let go. It's okay, I'm here." He said, his voice was slightly hoarse as he spoke to her.

Taking in a loud breath that shook her entire frame she whispered, "You're not here, you're not real… nothing is real, not anymore... I'm faceless."

Realizing she wasn't going to let go, he grabbed onto the blade, wincing as it sliced into his own skin as he tried to pull it away from her but she held onto the thin blade with determined fingers –like she was on some sort of mission.

Deputy Parrish watched with slightly widened eyes as he could see blood starting to run from Derek's hand as he gripped onto the blade even tighter trying to keep her from hurting herself any more than she already had.

Feeling something running over her arm and wrist she looked down at her arm with red, bloodshot eyes until she realized it wasn't her blood. Looking at him she saw his hand was bloody, as he still clutched onto the blade –even though his skin was starting to heal around it.

"Let go." He repeated, this time his voice was much softer than before.

Her fingers trembled, but slowly she released her grip and he quickly took it away. Wincing as he had to pull it from his own skin before throwing it across the room.

Slowly her eyes traveled up farther until they locked with his as he stared helplessly back at her. So many thoughts were racing through his head, anger at her for even thinking about ending her life, at himself for not realizing exactly how bad off she was. Fear, that if he'd showed up any later she could have been dead. Devastation at the idea of losing her.

Shaking his head back and forth he cleared his throat to try and say something, anything, as she wrapped her arms around herself and her small frame shook from loud cries and gasps for air, but then his eyes landed on the empty pill bottle beside her. Leaning closer he grabbed onto the sides of her face, smearing his still drying blood on her as he asked, "Did you take something?"

Her eyes blinked a few times, like she being pulled from a trance and wasn't sure herself what was happening.

"Damn it, Avery… answer me, did you take these!" He yelled as he grabbed the bottle and held it in front of her face, his eyes glowed blue as he yelled louder than before.

Another tear left a mascara darkened trail down her cheek as her eyes move back and forth watching the glowing blue orbs from his eyes.

"Your eyes…" She breathed reaching out and laying a hand on the side of his face as he stared at her with a mix of concern and confusion on his face before he blinked and they went back to normal as he fought to keep his anger under control.

He opened his mouth to ask her about the pills again but she dropped her hand from his face and threw her head back against the wall as she whispered under her breathed, "I saw them that night…" Her voice trailed off as her mind flashed back to when she'd had to go back through her memories with Teagan to find the nemeton. Even as little kid when she saw those glowing blue eyes in the woods she wasn't afraid of them. In fact, she'd tried to get out of the car to find the source of the bright blue eyes until scared nine year old Teagan latched onto her arm and kept her from getting out of the car.

"Avery, focus!" Derek said, as he tried again to ask her about the pills again, but she continued to quietly mumble, "I think I knew then… as impossible as it is, I think I just knew it was you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" He questioned, glancing over his shoulder to see both Avery's dad and Deputy Parrish still in the bedroom.

Moving her head from the wall she gave a small shrug and looked down to the still bleeding cuts across her forearms, but she couldn't focus on the crimson lines for long as he held the pill bottle out in in front of her face and yelled, "Did you take these?"

Cringing from his voice she reached out and gently took the bottle from him, reading the label her voice sounded almost alien as she quietly answered, "I should have…"

With the simple statement she dropped the bottle into the toilet bowl, where he then saw the other pills dissolving in the water.

Breathing a sigh of relief he lowered his head for a moment, thankful for that small victory at least.

But when he heard her heart rate pick up he looked back up to see she had a new set of tears rolling her down her already soaked cheeks.

"You're going to be okay... we'll figure this out." He said, his voice was hoarse as he spoke to her.

Taking in a loud breath that shook her entire frame she whispered, "You're not here."

"I'm right here." He assured her, his eyes wide with the pain of the thoughts of losing her.

"You're not going to leave me…" She asked, looking up at him, as her hallucination slowly started to fade and she couldn't hear Kate's voice in her head anymore.

"I'm not leaving." He promised, looking over to the side as Deputy Parrish stepped into the large bathroom with them and grabbed a clean rag from the side of the sink.

"Everyone always leaves me." She said to him as more tears welled up in her eyes and she looked over to where the crimson stained blade was on her tile floor.

"Not me, okay? Not anymore… I'm not leaving again." He breathed out, causing her to look up at him again as she stared at him, wanting to believe he was telling the truth, but everything that had happened in her life wouldn't let her fully believe it.

Parrish looked between them as he thought of how Avery had told him about the connection she and Derek had, which he was now able to clearly see. He'd watched Derek maybe not handle the situation as gently as the average person considering all of his yelling and demanding she put the blade down, but he'd managed to stop her –even if he had to hurt himself in the process.

He'd once told Avery that she was more than just words on paper, more than what her files at the police station said. And now he was starting to see maybe the same could be said for Derek too, that despite all of his arrests and even running from the police when he'd been accused of trying kill Avery and her friends in the school one night –he knew there was more to the story; more to their story.

Avery stared down to her wrist, every movement she made felt like she was moving in Jell-O, as she stared at the profusely bleeding wound that she could have sworn wasn't there a minute prior. She could feel herself starting to slip away again, drifting farther away from him even though they were in the same room.

Seeing something poke out of the open skin, she pulled out a bloody feather as she asked, "Do you see it?"

Deputy Parrish and Derek both looked at her while she held out her hand empty hand, "Tell me what you see…" Parrish finally said, as he and Derek both watched her closely.

She opened her mouth but all that came out was a blood curdling scream as she watched a black bird dig its way out of her wrist, before flying away, spraying the walls with blood spatter from its flapping wings.

"Avery!" Derek shouted over her screams as he tried to hold onto her but she fought against him, until she finally came all the way out of her nightmare and saw her intact wrist. And realized it was just a nightmare, the entire thing was a nightmare.

Only when she raised her head and saw both of them staring at her, she hung her head in shame. She'd lost control, lost her handle on reality and now other people –ones she cared about were getting a glimpse inside of her crazy.

Her lips quivered as she looked at Derek with a completely lost look in her red rimmed eyes, "I…" she sobbed pinning her eyes shut and looking to where he was holding the towel against her wounds, "I… just, I –I don't know that's wrong with me."

He didn't know what to say to her, so he just reached forward, gently sliding her out of the tight place she'd wedged herself in into, before he picked her weakened body up, an arm under her back and the other arm under her legs as she reached up with her good arm and held onto his neck; burring her face against him. Wanting desperately to not feel so cold and alone, but for the moment she was too far gone and the darkness inside of her too deep to feel anything but cold despair that came from feeling completely and utterly alone

Parrish watched as Derek stood up with her in his arms and turned around guiding them out of the bathroom, before Derek sat down on the bed with her and continued to hold her close while she cried and clutched onto him, her entire body trembling

Richard stared at them and then glanced over to where Deputy Parrish was walking out of the bathroom, before he shook his head unable to death with what was happening at the moment and he had to leave the room to catch his breath.

**~()~**

Isaac walked back into the bedroom with a huge grin on his face. Teagan sat up in bed, a confused look still on her face, as she watched him walk over to her desk to grab her laptop.

He walked over to the bed, holding out his hand as he told her to come with him. She shot him a look, still wondering what he was up to, but she trusted him. She didn't know much in life, but that she did know she trusted him with everything.

Teagan laid her hand in his larger one and felt him pulling her up from the bed. With her laptop in one hand and her hand in his other, he turned to leave the bedroom, pulling her along behind him.

He led her down the stairs and into the living room, where her surprise was waiting. Her eyes widen in shock and smile appeared on her face, when she saw what he had done. He had grabbed a spare sheet from the linen closet and stretched it over the couch and some chairs, forming a makeshift tent for them to crawl under.

Isaac smiled, seeing the look on her face, then said,"I made us a bigger version of a safety bubble. Kind of a tent/fort sorta thing."

"I love it." Teagan said, as she looked over at him. "I love it, and I love you."

"I love you too." Isaac said back. He pulled on her hand, wanting her to follow him, as he added, "But you haven't seen the best part."

The two walked over toward the makeshift tent then crawled inside it where he had every spare pillow and comforter he could find inside it, making a comfy bed for them to lay on. He also had some Chinese food delivered for them and had several of her favorite movies waiting for them to watch.

He sat her laptop down and opened it up, before he picked up one of the movies to put in there. "I know Chinese and old movies is what you had planned with the girls, but I figured it was something we could do. Or if you wanted to order something else, we can have that delivered instead, or if you wanted to watch something else, that is fine too. Just whatever you want to-"

Before he could finished his sentence, she laid her hand on the back of his neck, pulling him toward her as she shut him up with a kiss. She rested her forehead against his, as she whispered, "No, this is fine. This.. all of this... is perfect. I wouldn't change a thing."

Isaac pulled back to look at her, a smile on his face at knowing he made her happy. "I'm glad you like it, but just to let you know, I draw the line at tiaras and jewelry."

Teagan chuckled at his comment, as she laid her hands on either side of his face. "Aw come on, babe, you would look adorable in a tiara. You will be the belle of the ball."

Isaac laughed as he shook his head, then said,"You might can talk me into watching a Princess movie. But a tiara? Hell no, not happening."

"It's happening." Teagan teased, as she nodded her head.

"Not happening." Isaac argued back before he leaned forward to press his lips against hers, stopping her from arguing back with him, giving him the last word.

He laid his hand on the back of her head, as he lowered her toward the floor, his lips still attached to hers. She pulled back to look at him, a smile on her face, as she reached down to grab the bottom of his shirt and began to pull it up over his head.

She laid her hands on his bare chest then ran them down until she got to the waistband of his blue jeans. Before she could do anything else, he laid his hand on top of hers, stopping her.

"Teagan, we don't- this isn't why I did this. We don't have to-"

"I know." Teagan whispered. She leaned forward, softly kissing his lips, before continuing,"But I want to." She pulled back to look at him, as she added,"I've missed this and I've missed you, Isaac. Things haven't been good in a while, but this is the first time that things have slowed down enough so that we can start trying to heal."

She reached up to softly caressed his face, as she whispered,"Nothing makes me happier than being with you. You're my calm, you make everything better. You make me better. I love you."

"I love you." Isaac said back, as he leaned forward to press his lips against hers again for a tender kiss.

The two quickly got lost in each other, not paying any attention to the movie playing on her laptop. At the moment, all they needed was each other. After all the bad stuff that happened; hallucinations, close calls and losing friends, they had a lot of lost time to make up for, and nothing could heal them more than being together.

Afterwards, the two were laid together on the makeshift bed, cuddled up together with a comforter wrapped around them. Teagan smiled as she kissed his bare chest, then laid her head down, enjoying the stillness and the silence.

Isaac ran his fingers through her hair, just holding her close. The two were quiet for a little bit longer, until he lightly touch the side of her head, before asking,"So how is it going in there? I mean, since the door was close."

"Good. Quiet." Teagan answered. "There's been no yelling, no nightmares, no hallucinations, nothing. My thoughts are my own again."

"That's good." Isaac said, as he began to play with her hair again. "I'm glad Avery was able to close the door, but I got to be honest, that night scared the hell out of me. I wasn't sure if you would ever wake up, if Avery was going to wake up, if both of you would be okay. I had no clue what would happen and that terrified me."

"You pulled me back." Teagan pointed out. "You always pull me back."

"And I always will." Isaac said back. "That was a good idea calling in that cop for Avery. At first I had no idea what you were thinking, why you would call him, but it helped her. We got Avery back. How did you know he could do that?"

"I saw the way he was looking at her that night when the Oni attacked. I don't know what is going on there, but I had a feeling he would be good for her."

Isaac nodded his head, as he said,"It was a good call. All I know is, I'm glad it worked out and you two woke up. I can't lose you, Teagan." He kissed the top of her head, as he added,"I can't ever lose you."

"You won't." Teagan said, as she raised her head to look at him. "I'm okay now. Nothing like that will happen again, and I'm not going anywhere."

Isaac smiled at her words, as he leaned forward to press his lips against hers. He rolled them over, laying her on her back and hovering above her, as he said,"Good, plus if you did try to go somewhere, I would just have to follow you." He tapped the end of her nose, causing her to chuckle, as he added,"I'll go where ever you go, babe."

"Maybe we should." Teagan suggested.

"Should what?" Isaac asked.

"Go somewhere. Just pack a bag and leave. I mean, not for good, but just a vacation or something. We could both use a break. We could both use some healing." She explained.

"Like the kind of healing we just did?" Isaac questioned with a grin on his face.

"Yes, plenty of that." Teagan said with a laugh. She bit her bottom lip as she said,"I definitely need more of that."

Isaac laughed as he lowered his head, pressing his lips against her bare shoulder, leaving light kisses against her skin. He raised his head back to look at her, as he asked,"Do I need to schedule another healing session now?"

"I think you should." Teagan said with a nod, as she smiled at him.

"I think I can do that." Isaac said, as he smiled back. "Something did just come up."

"Oh, my God!" Teagan said, as she laughed out loud. She placed her hands over her face, as she laughed again, before removing them and looked at him. "You did not just say that!"

Isaac laughed along with her, as he shrugged his shoulders, and asked,"What? What was wrong with that? It got you to laugh, right?"

"Yes, yes it did. You and your awkward ass comments." Teagan said, as she laughed again.

"So that is what you and Avery meant by me making awkward comments?" Isaac questioned.

"That is exactly what we meant." Teagan said, with a nod. She smiled at him, as she said,"But it's okay, cause it's one of the many things I love about you."

He smiled back at her as he lowered his head, pressing his lips against her for a gentle kiss. He let her set the pace for a little bit, then he placed his hand on the back of her head, cradling her, as he deepened the kiss. He grinned against her lips, before nibbling on her bottom lip. He slipped his other hand under the comforter, lightly running his fingers down her side and causing her to shiver at his touch and let out a quiet moan.

He moved his hand down a little lower, heading for a certain area, until they heard the house phone began to ring. Teagan lowered her eyebrows in confusion, not many people called the landline much anymore. If someone needed her they called her cell and if they needed her dad, they would call his cell.

As the phone continued to ring, Isaac groaned, as he lowered his head, pressing his lips against her bare shoulder for a quick kiss, then rolled off of her to lay on his back beside her.

Teagan was close to telling him to just ignore it, not wanting to ruin this good moment, but she had this feeling that it could be important; never realizing that single phone call would change everything.

**~()~**

"Here." Parrish quietly said as he walked over to them and handed Derek the clean washcloth. He glanced up at him nodding in thanks as he took the clean rag and then looked down Avery's still injured and bleeding arm.

Giving them some space, Parrish lingered in the door way watching as Derek wrapped the cloth around her injured forearm before he left to check on Avery's dad.

As he applied pressure to her sore skin she pulled in a quick, pained breath and he could hear her heart starting to pick up speed. Closing her eyes she thought about how she deserved that pain, until slowly it subsided and her eyes fluttered open to see the veins in Derek's hand and arms were raised and dark as he took some of her pain away.

"I'm sorry…" she breathed, as tears streaked her cheeks again and her voice cracked.

"Why didn't you tell me it was this bad?" He questioned, as he looked down to where he was cradling her in his arms, but didn't give her a chance to answer as he continued, "Do you even know what you just about did? You damn neared killed yourself."

She nodded as she roughly wiped the tears from her cheeks with the hand from her uninjured arm.

"Don't just sit there and nod, do you know what losing you would do to me?" Through his angry expression she saw the pain she was causing him, "You are more important to me than anything else."

Her heart sank and she couldn't breathe as she saw the pain in his eyes, not only was holding it all in and trying to deal with everything herself, killing her but it was also killing him.

More tears rolled down her flushed cheeks as she admitted, "You wouldn't think that if you knew how messed up I was. If you only knew half the things that go through my head, you'd run."

He was quiet for a moment as he watched her and regretted ever trying to push her away in the first place. They'd agreed they didn't function right as a couple, that they weren't good for each other But mainly he'd left because he knew she could do better and more than anything just wanted her to be safe and happy. When he'd told her he didn't come back to Beacon Hills for her, it was mostly a lie-he did have other reasons for returning but the main thing was that as much as he tried to remind himself that she was better off with his being gone, he couldn't stay away from her.

Shaking his head back forth he reached forward cradling her face in his hands as he assured her, "There is nothing you can say or do that will make me leave again. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere… I love you."

Her eyes darted back and forth as she searched his face hardly able to hide her surprise at his words, even when they were together she'd told him she loved him first and even after that she was almost always the one to say it first.

He stared at her for a few more seconds before he pulled her against him in a tight embrace, with one hand cradling the back of her head. Nestling in against his body she held onto him as if the world was ending; because if he'd showed up to the house much later, it would have.

"I, uh, I called Teagan… she's on her way." Richard said as he and Parrish walked in the room.

Nodding Avery glanced up to Derek before slowly sliding off of his lap and the bed, and she stood with wobbling knees and looked at her dad, who said, "I know you're going to hate this but you've got to get help, Avery. I've asked Teagan to help you decide on somewhere."

Richard braced himself, expecting an angry outburst from her but she nodded, "It's okay… I know… I can't keep going on like this anymore."

He stared at her, feeling like even the smallest thing could set her off. Clearing his throat, he said, "Avery…"

"Yeah?" She weakly asked.

Stepping forward he pulled her into a hug so tight she could barely breathe as he said, "Don't you ever do anything like that to me again! Ever!"

She agreed, but her voice was muffled by his shirt as he held her tighter and thanked both the young deputy still standing in the room with them, and Derek as he stood from the bed.

Her dad, finally let go and took a step back as he explained how Parrish told to him that until she left for the treatment facility, she shouldn't be left alone. And the house needed to be gone through, all hazards or anything she could use to hurt herself needed to be locked away.

~()~

Avery looked down to her dad's closed laptop on the coffee table next to her as she sat on it facing Derek as he sat on the couch in the front living room, bandaging up her arm. The pair sat in silence, neither of them too sure what to say to other.

Finally breaking the silence if the room he quietly asked, "What were you talking about earlier?"

She looked at him with a questioning look and he clarified, "Something about my eyes…"

"Oh…" She breathed out, looking down to her arm as he taped another piece of gauze over the wounds, "I was just thinking about this time when i was a kid."

"What?" He asked looking up at her confused.

Closing her eyes she swallowed hard and said, "When I put myself into a state of sub-consciousness to help Teagan find the nemeton… we had to relive this memory together of when we were kids and your mom had called my mom for help with something."

Seeing he was paying attention she continued, "We were supposed to stay in the car… and I was looking around trying to catch a glimpse of you, like I always was." She admitted with a small laugh causing him to smile as she continued.

"It was a full moon that night and I looked into the woods and saw these pair of glowing blue eyes in the darkness… I probably should have been terrified." She reasoned shaking her head and saying, "But I wasn't, in fact I tried to get out of the car but Teagan was terrified and grabbed onto me."

Seeing him smile again as he looked back down and applied the last of the tape she asked, 'What?"

"Nothing, I just never knew any of that." He admitted, glancing up at her.

She gave him a small smile back before she looked away and blew out a heavy breath as she said, "My dad's right… I'm going to have to leave again, out of town to some treatment place." Sighing she added, "Just like before."

"I know." He replied, as much as he hated the idea of her going away and him not seeing her for a while, he knew this was what she needed to get better.

"I don't know how long I'll be gone." He heard her voice crack as she spoke.

Trying to soothe her nerves some he said, "Don't worry about that, it doesn't matter how long you're gone as long as you get better. That's the most important thing right now."

"And you?" She breathed, fearful of his response.

"I'll still be here when you get back." He assured her, already knowing what she was worried about. That'd she'd leave and by the time she got back he'd be gone.

"Promise?" She quietly asked, raising her head and looking at him.

"I promise." He said, as he their eyes met and he reached up tucking some of her hair behind her ear and offered her a small smile, but she was too beat down to return it. Especially since she wasn't entirely sure she believed him.

"Did my dad call you when he called the police?" She questioned, wondering why he was there in the first place.

"No… I came over as soon as I got your message. I knew by your voice, something was wrong." He explained as he continued, "What happened… what were you seeing?"

Tears stung her already sore, raw eyes and she pulled in a deep, shuddering breath and shrugged, "Everything I guess… I'm seeing things that aren't real and hallucinating things…"

"Like what?" He questioned, just trying to understand what had pushed her so far over the edge.

"Like… Kate Argent for one." She whispered, refusing to look at him.

A pained look spread over his face, he knew she'd never dealt with what Kate did to her.

Leaning forward some he held onto her chin and tilted her face until she looked at him and he reminded her, "Kate's dead, she can't hurt you… not anymore, not ever again."

"That's the thing…" She weakly responded as she pointed to her head and said, "In here, she's never stopped hurting me."

"I'm sorry." He genuinely whispered as their eyes locked.

Kate getting hold of Avery and torturing her, using her against him –that was something he'd never forgive himself for. He should have been able to protect her, to keep her safe but he'd failed her on several occasions.

She started to opened her mouth to tell him it wasn't his fault and he had nothing to be sorry for, but no sound came as she continued to stare into his eyes. Before she was even sure what was happening their faces started to move closer together, but just as their lips were almost touching she heard the front door crash open.

"A!" Teagan yelled out, fear strong in her voice.

"She's okay." Richard said as started down the stairs and nodded to the right as he continued, "She's in the front living room."

Without wasting another second Teagan ran into the room, with Isaac right on her heels.

'"Oh my god… A." Teagan said tears immediately running down her face as she saw Avery and Derek both standing up, both of them still bloody from the struggled over the blade in the bathroom.

Isaac gently rubbed his hands up and down her arms, trying to calm her but in Teagan's mind all she could picture was the night she'd almost lost her best friend, the night Kate had cut Avery's wrist and left her dead. There was blood, so much blood and by the time they'd reached the hospital Teagan had been soaked in her blood too.

Those were the images she'd had in her head the whole way to the house, even though Isaac assured her over and over that if she was badly hurt they'd be on their way to hospital and not her house. But now here she was staring at her best friend's pale face with blood smeared across one of her cheeks and on her clothes. Not to mention the blood that was also on Derek.

"I'm okay." Avery tried to say, but she didn't get a word out before Teagan rushed forward and pulled her into a hug and closed her eyes, thankful that they'd been able to stop her before she hurt herself any worse.

Avery rested her head on the brunettes shoulder and listened as her dad asked Isaac and Derek to help him clear the house of things that could be dangerous to Avery, as he filled in Isaac in on what Parrish had told him before the young deputy had left.

Avery raised her head and watched over her best friends shoulder with a pained expression as Derek and Isaac left the room with her dad, before she laid her head back down on her friends shoulder with her eyes full of tears.

**~(Later that night)~**

Avery sat on the couch in the front family room, in a pair of sleeping shorts and an oversized dark gray sweatshirt, her hair was up in a bun on top of her head, still wet from the quick shower she'd taken, and was now staring at the phone she was holding in her hands.

"Do you want me call?" Teagan quietly asked.

Avery stared up to the ceiling where they could hear movement from upstairs; her dad and Isaac trying to remove everything she could possibly hurt herself with from the house.

"I don't wanna go back there…" She admitted, "They're gonna remember me, and think I'm such a failure, it's only been a few years since I was there."

Teagan picked up the crumpled piece of paper that Avery's dad had given his daughter a while before, with the number to the treatment facility she'd been to in Long Beach when she was 14 and tried to commit suicide.

"Nobody is going to think you're a failure at anything." Teagan said, then choked back tears as she reminded her, "And even if some dumbass does think that, just remember you're Avery Dukate… and since when have you cared what anyone else thought?"

Avery let out a small laugh as she looked at her with watery eyes.

Teagan wiped a tear from her own cheek and closed her eyes for a few moments as she replayed the call she'd gotten from Avery's dad a few hours before; saying that he wanted her to come and sit with Avery and help him convince her to go get the help she needed.

She'd never forget that phone conversation for as long as she lived, at first she thought it was Avery calling her from the landline instead of her cellphone, but it was her dad. Which at first wasn't too concerning until he asked if she could come help him with Avery.

When she asked what for she never expected the answer she'd gotten, "I had to call 911…she locked herself in her room and s-she tried to kill herself."

Looking back now she honestly didn't remember even leaving her house, she couldn't remember if she'd drive there or if it had been Isaac. After that phone call every single second was a blur until she burst through the front door and saw her friend was okay.

"I can't go back there, T. I just can't." She whispered again as she looked down to her bare legs

Reaching forward Teagnan picked up Richard's laptop computer from the coffee table and opened it, as she scooted closer to her best friend and said, "You don't want go to back to that one, it's okay. We'll find an even better one."

Nodding Avery slid down in her seat some as she leaned over, resting her head on Teagan's shoulder as the girls searched for a treatment facility to help her come to terms with all of the loss and trauma she'd suffered and help her find ways of dealing with stress.

"Here's this one…" Teagan said as she read over the website for an in-patient treatment place, but Avery didn't even look up as she sighed, "Ironic isn't it… that our lives are full of supernatural problems, and then I end up with a problem that can't be fixed supernaturally." Avery thought back to being in Eichen and the diagnoses the psychiatrist had given her

"What's wrong with you?" The brunette let out a small gasp as she realized how it sounded, then quickly tried to word it better, "I mean what…"

"It's okay."

"It's really not, A. I didn't mean it the way it sounded." Teagan said, now also not paying attention to the computer.

"I know what you meant… and I think a combination of things." She didn't raise her head from her friends shoulder as she admitted, "When I was at Eichen House, the doctor wrote in my file that I have temporary psychosis brought on by severe depression, but Parrish seems to think it's PTSD."

"I don't know for sure what's going on, but there's just so much… noise in my head. My thoughts are constantly racing to the point where I'm lucky if I get any sleep at all. I'm seeing things that aren't there…" Avery's voice trailed off as she pinned her eyes shut and tried to ignore the jittery feeling all over body

With raised eyebrows Teagan started to ask how much she'd told the deputy about everything, but Avery kept talking, "Either way, it doesn't matter. It just means that there is something wrong with me… something that I can't fix on my own and I hate it."

She could hear the blonde talking through gritted teeth and tears stung her eyes as she said, "You know, you can't fix everything on your own. And the great thing is that you don't have to do it all on your own, you've got me and Isaac, not to mention all our other friends."

"Yeah, but when people find out about this they're going to think I'm certifiably crazy."

Teagan frowned, not sure what to say to make her friend feel better.

Both girls looked up as Derek walked through the room on his way a storage room where Avery kept some weapons stored.

Teagan's eyebrows pushed together some with a tinge of anger as she considered that it seemed like every time Derek found a way back into her best friend's like, the more Avery's world seemed to fall apart.

Taking a deep breath she pushed the anger to the side and started to ask Avery something but paused as she saw her and Derek exchange a look for before he disappeared down the hallway.

Turning her attention back to Avery, Teagan raised her eyebrows in question wondering if something was going on between them again. She knew that they'd slept together a few times since they broke up, but other than that she wasn't aware they were even talking much anymore.

Avery gave a small shrug as a silent response which caused Teagan to ask, "Why is Derek here anyways?"

"I called him before… well, before I snapped." Her friend quietly said.

Teagan opened her mouth to ask more but Avery quickly cut her off and changed the subject, "I'll miss you while I'm away." Avery softly whispered, as her chin quivered. The last thing she wanted to do was leave town now, her friends needed her. But she knew now she couldn't push things down any longer, she'd end up hurting someone else or killing herself from everything bottled up inside.

Diverting her eyes from the screen, Teagan quietly said back, "Miss me? As soon as they allow you to have visitors, I'm going to be there all the time."

"That's a really long drive…"

"Not from a nearby hotel it won't be." Teagan answered with a smile.

Raising her head Avery said, "Come on, T. This isn't the titanic… with the whole, I jump-you jump thing."

Teagan couldn't help but smile at her friend using her own words against her, that was the term she'd use whenever Avery would make her friends problems her own.

"You're my sister and there is no way that you're going off to some center without me just being a short drive away." She sternly said, then sighed, "Plus, I think I could really use some time away from town too, everything I see makes me think of Allison…"

Her voice cracked and her sentence trailed off, a few more tears slid down Avery's cheeks as she nodded in understanding, ever since losing her friend she felt the same way. She couldn't drive past a restaurant they'd eaten at without breaking down in tears.

"But I'll be so worried about you in some hotel by yourself." Avery continued to argue.

"Who said I was going to be alone." She answered mysteriously, but Avery already knew who she was talking about.

"I think it might really do you guys some good to take a vacation." She finally agreed.

Teagan nodded with a small smile at the idea of going away with Isaac, just the two of them.

"Hey A, look at this place…"

As Avery lifted her head and looked at the screen Teagan read some of it out loud, "It says they focus on a holistic approach to recovery. Private rooms… 5 star dining, they have a gym."

Her dark brown eyes read farther down the list as he gasped, "They even have a spa!"

"Hmm." Avery hummed as she leaned in closer as her friend opened up a virtual tour of the facility, "Maybe this could be the place… it's doesn't look that bad."

"Not that bad? I'm thinking about skipping the hotel and getting a room next to yours in here." Teagan joked, trying to lighten the mood and smiled ear to ear as she heard the sound of her friend laughing. A sound she had heard much at all of lately.

The two girls continued their search late into the night, trying to find the best possible place for Avery to go with good hotels nearby for Teagan and Isaac to stay at. Both of them nervous for what the future may hold, but knew this was a step in the right direction for them. Getting away from Beacon Hills might just be exactly what they all needed.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn ~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Well, there it is! The end of The Dark Blue Moon! ^_^**

**We want to thank you all so much for the all of the support you've shown. Thank you to everyone who followed the story and/or added it to your favorites. We literally do something Blue Moon Series related every single day and to know that we have readers who appreciate all of the hard work we put into this and who love the girls as much as we do –that honestly means the world to us both. So thank you!**

**We'll have the sequel up as soon as we can. It's going to cover season 4 of Teen Wolf, and it will be a Derek/oc and Isaac/oc story. We cannot wait to share the next Blue Moon installment with all of you! ^_^ If you'd like either me or Miss E Charlotte to let you know when the new story is up just let us know in a review or a message, we don't mind letting you guys know when it's been posted.**

**Also, up on my profile page the link is now active for the official season 4 video ^_^ Don't forget to check it out and see what's coming in A New Blue Moon**

**Thank you for everything, you've all been amazing and so supportive!**


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